en.Wedoany.com Reported - Nxtra, the data center operator under Airtel, is accelerating its deployment of hyperscale campuses across Africa to support local artificial intelligence workloads, cloud computing demands, and digital sovereignty. CEO Yashnath Issur stated at the Data Centre LIVE conference that the company aims to replicate its operational experience from India in Africa, with a market focus on Nigeria, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Additionally, the company is deploying edge data centers across all 14 Airtel Africa markets.
Yashnath Issur noted that the African data center market has long lacked a sense of scale. Leveraging its experience in building facilities for hyperscale customers, Nxtra plans to introduce high-density capacity in Africa to meet the demand for AI and high-density computing power. The company believes that demonstrating hyperscale capabilities will help attract more international operators and cloud providers to Africa.
The Lagos project in Nigeria is the first example of the company's ambition. Initially planned as a 22 MW IT facility, it has now been expanded to 38 MW. Yashnath believes that Nigeria's population size and growing demand for local cloud services make larger-scale development commercially viable. He emphasized that this is not just about capacity but also about data sovereignty, predicting that more workloads will remain within the country and that the market alone could reach 100 to 200 MW for Nxtra alone. Beyond scale, reliable power supply remains a core strategic focus, with investments prioritizing high availability and a clean energy mix.
Kenya is the second pillar of Nxtra's expansion plan. The company plans to build a 44 MW facility in Nairobi, with the site selected based on local renewable energy availability and its strategic position as a gateway to East Africa. Yashnath stated that customer demand, government support, and access to renewable energy have accelerated the project, and he believes that Nxtra alone could reach a capacity level of 200 to 300 MW in the region in the short term.
Yashnath pointed out that the campuses are specifically designed for hyperscale customers, but their impact extends beyond digital infrastructure, creating opportunities for talent repatriation and local talent development. He stated that the company's core mission is to deliver infrastructure that Africa needs and meets global quality standards, with current efforts focused on providing the physical foundation for cloud and AI growth.
