INFRAGORA Global Capital, a South African infrastructure investment firm, plans to begin construction of two AI-ready data centres in Nigeria by the second quarter of 2027. The project is estimated to cost between $650 million and $1 billion.
The facilities are the first phase of the AFRIDATA Datacenter Platform, INFRAGORA’s plan to build open-access data centres across Africa. The wider platform is reported to be worth between $3 billion and more than $5 billion.
Lagos and Delta Chosen as Project Sites
The main facility will be in Lagos State and the second in Delta State. According to the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the Lagos site will be AI-ready and cloud-enabled, with Tier IV certification, the highest level of data centre reliability. The Delta site will serve as a Tier III or Tier IV backup and disaster recovery centre with similar computing capabilities.
Together, the two facilities are planned to deliver 60 to 70 megawatts of capacity, with room to expand to 100 megawatts. They are designed to hold 3,600 standard server racks and 480 high-density racks built for the GPU servers that AI workloads need.
A US-Funded Study Backs the Plan
USTDA has awarded a $1.87 million grant to fund a feasibility study. The study will test the project’s bankability and market fit, identify US vendors able to deliver it, assess regulatory risks and map out what is needed to unlock financing.
USTDA described the plan as one of the most significant proposed data centre investments in Nigeria to date. The agency said it also sees opportunities for American companies that supply AI software, cloud infrastructure, networking hardware and cybersecurity services.
Who Will Own and Run the Centres
The centres will be owned and operated by AFRIDATA Datacenter Nigeria Ltd, a special purpose vehicle of INFRAGORA incorporated in April 2026. INFRAGORA is one of its majority owners, alongside institutional and private equity investors and an experienced data centre operator as a strategic partner.
The company plans to lease rack space to cloud providers, banks and mobile network operators for AI and cloud workloads. INFRAGORA, founded in 2023, has also lined up similar vehicles for Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.
Why the Project Matters for Nigeria
Nigeria’s data centre capacity is heavily concentrated in Lagos. USTDA estimates the country’s data centre market is growing at 14.2 percent a year and could reach 226.7 megawatts by 2029. A Delta State site would help spread that infrastructure beyond Lagos.
INFRAGORA’s Kiel Odiogo said USTDA’s early backing helped reduce the project’s risk and bring in partners. He added that the company aims to use American technology and expertise to build secure infrastructure that can scale and create jobs.
What Remains Uncertain
The project is still at an early stage. The construction date is a target, and it depends on the feasibility study confirming that the plan is commercially viable and on the company securing financing. Power supply and regulatory approvals will also shape the timeline.
