MTN Nigeria has completed the first phase of its $235 million Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, marking its official entry into commercial data hosting. The Tier III data centre facility is part of the telco’s broader push to strengthen cloud infrastructure.
The newly completed Phase 1 features a 4.5MW IT load, spans three floors, houses 780 racks, and costs $100 million to build. When fully developed, the facility will reach 9MW capacity, with Phase 2—estimated at $135 million—targeting Tier IV certification, the highest global benchmark for uptime and redundancy.
The project positions MTN at the forefront of Nigeria’s fast-growing data centre market, while also inserting the telecom giant into a competitive ecosystem long dominated by players such as MainOne (Equinix), Rack Centre, Digital Realty (via Medallion), and Open Access Data Centres (OADC).
The Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, named in honour of MTN Group’s former CEO, is a strategic move. With over 50 data centres across Africa and the Middle East, MTN is capitalising on its pan-African infrastructure to meet surging demand for low-latency cloud computing, digital platforms, and enterprise-level IT services.
Local cloud, local advantage
MTN’s push comes as Nigeria continues to rely heavily on foreign hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, leading to an estimated $350 million in annual capital flight for offshore data hosting, according to industry estimates. By offering in-country hosting, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions priced in naira, and full compliance with regulations like the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandates, MTN is making a direct play to localise cloud spend and capture enterprise demand.
“We are going to continue to expand the capacity we have in the data centre,” said Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, during a pre-launch briefing on June 30, 2025. “Part of that is the readiness for artificial intelligence and the processing power that AI needs and uses.”
The Dabengwa Sifiso facility is carrier-agnostic, allowing clients to connect through any fibre provider, not just MTN’s network. This strategy is crucial in a market where vendor lock-in can deter large enterprises and governments.
At the heart of MTN’s strategy is a push to democratise cloud access for startups and local developers. The MTN Cloud platform offers self-orchestration, mirroring what developers typically find on AWS or Google Cloud. Self-orchestration is the ability of a system, application, or service to automatically manage and coordinate its resources, workflows, and scaling without requiring external, manual intervention. This allows users to provision and manage resources autonomously, accelerating product development and reducing time-to-market.
“I believe that we will be the first, or we are the first, to offer a self-orchestration data platform in Nigeria,” said Linda Saint-Okafor, chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN Nigeria.
A race for digital dominance
Nigeria’s cloud market has expanded rapidly, with Equinix’s MainOne and Rack Centre setting high industry standards. OADC’s edge facilities and Medallion’s micro data centres have also gained ground in decentralised hosting. Yet MTN is banking on its telecom-grade resilience, deep capital investment, and the ability to integrate enterprise services across its existing infrastructure.
At full scale, the centre’s modular design—featuring 96 prefabricated containers—can scale beyond 14MW, allowing for AI-ready workloads, 3D environmental monitoring, and advanced containment units. The facility includes 24/7 intelligent monitoring, PCI DSS readiness, and role-based access control, targeting high-compliance industries like finance, health, and national security.
While competition may be stiff, MTN believes it has what it takes to snag meaningful market share.
