Nigeria’s data-center leaders say power generation is no longer the biggest obstacle to scaling digital infrastructure – reliability and distribution are.
That was the consensus at the Hyperscalers Convergence Africa conference in Lagos, where industry executives said the country’s power ecosystem is evolving to meet hyperscale and AI-era demand.
The high-level session brought together senior executives, regulators, and investors from 15 countries across and beyond Africa.
During the sessions on Data Center and Energy, speakers – including Guy Zibi, Managing Partner at Xalam Analytics; Johnson Agogbua, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kasi Cloud Data Centers; Roger Shutte, General Manager, Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria; Snehar Shah, Chief Executive Officer of IX Africa Data Centres; Karim Amer, Head of IP Business for North, West, and Central Africa at Nokia; Tola Talabi, Chief Executive Officer of Elektron Energy; Wole Adeoti, Head Operations at Digital Realty; Gbenga Adegbiji, CEO, Geniserve and Diana, Senior Associate and Energy Policy Expert at George Etomi & Partners – shared critical insights on power, regulation, and investment in Africa’s data economy.
“Power isn’t scarce,” said Johnson Agogbua, CEO of Kasi Cloud Data Centers. “The challenge is reliable delivery and quality. We’re investing in redundancy to make sure every megawatt reaches the rack.” Kasi Cloud is currently developing a 100-megawatt hyperscale campus in Lekki, powered by a private 132-kilovolt substation and a 60-megawatt transformer.
Roger Shutte of MTN Nigeria echoed that sentiment. “Power is not a problem; it’s just a challenge,” he said.
This was reiterated by Tola Talabi, CEO of Elektron Energy, who added that Africa’s power challenge should now be viewed as an opportunity rather than a constraint.
“Power is not just a challenge – it’s an opportunity,” he said. “When developers and investors deploy capital, data centers are our most compelling customers. They provide the stable, long-term demand we need to make projects bankable.”
Talabi revealed that Elektron Energy is currently developing a $50 million Independent Power Project (IPP) in Victoria Island, designed to take much of the district off the national grid and provide reliable embedded power to multiple data centers.
“Data centers make the commercial case for investment in power stronger – they are the base load that anchors wider energy availability,” he said.
From a policy perspective, Diana, a legal practitioner and energy policy expert, said reforms under the Electricity Act 2023 could accelerate investment if states act decisively.
“State electricity markets could become critical,” she said. “They can create localized, bankable frameworks that attract investors and ensure returns.”
Despite lingering challenges, the tone across the panel was optimistic. “We’ve solved scarcity,” speakers concluded. “Now it’s about reliability, sustainability, and scale.”
Hyperscalers Convergence Africa 2025 was convened by Africa Hyperscalers and sponsored by Nokia, Open Access Data Centres (OADC), IHS Towers, Vertiv, Equinix, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
