26 September 2025

Olatayo Ladipo-Ajai, Regional Manager West Africa at Infobip Nigeria

The public sector in West Africa, much like in other parts of the world, is grappling with deep-rooted challenges. From rigid bureaucracies to outdated systems, the very institutions tasked with serving citizens often find themselves trapped in structures that stifle innovation and delay impact.

Across Nigeria and much of West Africa, public institutions remain constrained by manual processes, fragmented systems, and limited digital infrastructure. These inefficiencies slow down decision-making, obstruct transparency, and leave frontline workers without the tools they need to serve citizens effectively.

19 August 2025

Nigeria’s federal digital infrastructure and shared services provider, Galaxy Backbone (GBB), has issued a compelling appeal to both public and private sector organisations to treat disaster recovery as a vital strategic component rather than an afterthought.

In an official statement, GBB underscored that as data assumes an increasingly central role in governance, commerce, and service provision, Nigerian institutions must recognise that disruptions are not a matter of if, but when.

14 August 2025

Mary kariuki, digital infrastructure consultant, africa data centres association

As digital transformation accelerates across the continent, Africa’s data centres are emerging as critical infrastructure hubs fuelling economic growth, innovation, and connectivity. However, this rapid expansion brings with it significant challenges — most notably the rising energy consumption and environmental impacts associated with data centre operations.

Recognising these issues, the African Data Centre Association (ADCA), in collaboration with regional stakeholders and under the auspices of Smart Africa, is pioneering an ambitious initiative: the development of a regionally tailored African Code of Conduct (CoC) for data centres.

14 August 2025

Giovanni Da Costa, Managing Director, SEACOM Digital Infrastructure South Africa

Network architecture requirements have shifted drastically over the last few years. As our reliance on always-on, always available connections has accelerated, so too has the need for data centre neutral carrier networks that make it possible to create global reach, ensure resilience and redundancy while ensuring seamless interconnectivity.

Content providers, hyperscalers and over-the-top players are expanding at an unprecedented rate, pushing infrastructure limits to bring workloads closer to end users as they look to deliver vast amount of data traffic without compromising the user experience. However, scaling is not as simple as flipping a switch. Data centres are finite, and traditional models pose constraints. This is where data centre neutrality becomes critical, not just as a concept but as an operational reality.

14 August 2025

Charlie Morgan, Partner (Disputes, London); Stewart Payne, Director (Competition, Trade & Regulation, Johannesburg), Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

As Africa’s digital economy accelerates, the demand for data centres is surging, unlocking a wave of investment opportunities across the continent. With significant capital needed to build and scale these facilities, both seasoned players and new investors are eyeing the region as a frontier for digital infrastructure growth. As is often the case, Africa presents both unique challenges and opportunities for these players – although lessons can be drawn from experiences in other regions, where the operating environment is not as dissimilar as one might at first think. Even for seasoned data centre operators and investors, the African landscape continues to evolve, presenting novel challenges and requiring innovative solutions.