Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), on Friday in Lagos, gathered Chief Executive Officers of leading Data Centre Service providers to a breakfast meeting, tagged: ‘Breakfast Meeting with The CEO,’ to discuss Data Centre Operation in Nigeria: Impacts, Benefits and Challenges in a Knowledge Economy. The Data centre operators said that Nigeria need a minimum of 72 centres to boost connectivity and quality of service, according to them, the country’s data landscape needs more players for growth.

Speaking at the event, Gbenga Adegbiji, General Manager, MDXi Data Centre, said that, a data economy would require adequate infrastructure. He stated that, the country was low in the technology readiness infrastructure because it was not utilising technology well.

Adegbiji urged journalists to create more awareness on the importance of data domiciliation in the country, according to him, hosting of data outside exposes the country to risks. He listed the advantages of data hosting in the country to include security, job creation and local content development.

Ezekiel Egboye, Director of Operations Rack Centre, while making his remarks, decried Nigeria’s inadequate technology infrastructure. He stated that, the country would have to invest more in technology infrastructure for the centres to be among global players

 Mr. Egboye, said, people processes and control are majorly the challenges on the data landscape in the country. He noted that power is one of the areas they are working assiduously to mitigate completely; adding that by 2019 they will achieve Tier IV certified Data Centre in West Africa

Ike Nnamani, CEO Medallion Limited, speaking at the event said that, Medallion is the product of structured collaboration between technocrats with versatile exposures and competences in the telecommunication industry. He noted that, localization of content is better for end-user experience and a big business for stakeholders and the country in general.

He decried that a country like Nigeria, there is no internet connectivity between Lagos and Kano, noting that data centres in Lagos are not enough to cover its data needs, he cited an example of Toronto, a city half the size of Lagos state but with over 50 Data Centre Operators. Mr. Nnamani, added that more infrastructure is needed outside of Lagos also, adding that Nigeria needs a minimum of 72 data centres in order to boost connectivity and quality of service.

He stated that their goal for 2018 is to promote local content, broadband penetration, hosting and domiciliation of content; he believes that this will drive development of infrastructure in the country.