Airtel Africa has officially launched Nxtra by Airtel (Nxtra), a new venture dedicated to addressing the escalating demand for reliable and sustainable data center capacity across the continent.
Nxtra’s primary goal is to cater to the burgeoning digital economy in Africa by establishing a robust network of data centres strategically positioned in major cities within Airtel Africa’s operational reach.
With aspirations to create one of the largest data centres networks in Africa, Nxtra plans to deploy high-capacity facilities in key urban centers, complementing its existing edge sites. This ambitious initiative aims to meet the evolving requirements of African enterprises, featuring data centre infrastructure designed for hosting the next generation of computing.
The phased development will provide multi-megawatt capacity, adhering to stringent global security standards and achieving ‘five nines’ availability.
Leveraging Airtel Africa’s extensive fiber footprint, Nxtra intends to offer secure and scalable integrated solutions to a diverse clientele, including global hyper-scalers, large African enterprises, startups, SMEs, and government entities.
The localised data centre capacity is expected to enhance the speed of accessing digital services and reduce data management costs, fostering increased innovation and supporting the development of a new generation of African tech talent.
Nxtra is also facilitating compliance with data sovereignty requirements while enabling the provision of more local cloud services in Airtel Africa’s operational countries.
“A rapid increase in data centre capacity is needed to support the growth potential of Africa’s digital economy. We’re proud to drive the future of Africa’s digital infrastructure, unlocking opportunities for businesses to grow and fuelling economic prosperity,” Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya said.
“Airtel Africa’s team has consistently shown our ability to deliver on infrastructure projects across Africa, and we are confident that our next generation data centres will support our ambition to become the partner of choice for global customers and Africa’s newest tech unicorns alike.”
The inaugural Nxtra facility, set to be operational in Lagos, Nigeria, is projected to deliver a total power capacity of 34 MW. Engineered to host high-density racks, the facility will incorporate cutting-edge construction practices, targeting a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3. Anticipated to go live in mid-2025, this major facility underscores Nxtra’s commitment to realizing its vision.
In pursuit of Nxtra’s strategic vision, Airtel Africa has appointed Yashnath Issur, the former head of Global Data Centre Portfolio Management at Amazon Web Services, as the CEO of Nxtra by Airtel. Bringing 16 years of industry experience to the role, Yashnath has assembled a team of experts over the past year to execute on the ambitious strategy.
