MTN Nigeria has completed the first phase of its $235 million Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, marking its official entry into Nigeria’s commercial data hosting and cloud services sector.

The newly launched Phase 1 of the Tier III facility features a 4.5MW IT load, spans three floors, houses 780 server racks, and cost $100 million to build. Upon completion, the centre will offer 9MW of capacity, with Phase 2 targeting Tier IV certification, the highest global standard for uptime and redundancy.

Named after former MTN Group CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, the centre strengthens MTN’s push into enterprise digital infrastructure. With over 50 data centres across Africa and the Middle East, the company is leveraging its pan-African footprint to meet growing demand for cloud computing, AI processing, and enterprise IT services.

MTN enters a market long dominated by players like MainOne (Equinix), Rack Centre, Digital Realty (via Medallion), and OADC. However, its telecom-grade infrastructure, deep capital, and in-country pricing model give it a strong competitive edge.

The facility is carrier-neutral, allowing customers to connect via any fibre provider—a key move in appealing to enterprises concerned about vendor lock-in.

Speaking ahead of the launch, MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola said, “We are expanding our data centre capacity to support AI and digital transformation across Nigeria.”

MTN’s local hosting capabilities are also expected to curb capital flight, estimated at $350 million annually, as Nigerian companies rely on foreign cloud providers. The company’s platform is compliant with local data laws and offers self-orchestration, giving startups and developers tools comparable to AWS or Google Cloud.

“We believe we’re the first to offer a self-orchestration data platform in Nigeria,” added Linda Saint-Okafor, MTN’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer.