Airtel Africa has announced the launch of Nxtra by Airtel, a new data center business dedicated to meeting Africa’s growing demand for reliable, sustainable data center capacity and fueling the continent’s burgeoning digital economy.

According to the statement, Nxtra will build one of the largest network of high-capacity data centers in Africa, across Airtel Africa’s footprint, and positioned in major cities to complement its existing edge sites.

Nxtra is expected to serve the growing data center needs of African enterprises and its infrastructure will be designed to host the next generation of computing, while providing multi-MW capacity in a phased manner. 

Key Highlights:

• Secure and scalable solutions: Nxtra’s facilities will adhere to stringent global security standards and achieve “five nines” availability. Coupled with Airtel Africa’s extensive fiber network, Nxtra offers secure and scalable integrated solutions to global hyperscalers, large African enterprises, startups, SMEs, and governments.
• Empowering African innovation and data sovereignty: Nxtra by Airtel expects to leverage its extensive fiber footprint and local data center capacity to reduce the cost of hosting data locally, spurring innovation and supporting African tech talent. Additionally, Nxtra enables customers to meet data sovereignty requirements while facilitating the development of local cloud services.
• First major Nxtra facility in Nigeria: The inaugural Nxtra facility in Lagos, Nigeria, will offer 34 MW of power, accommodate high-density racks, and employ cutting-edge construction techniques to achieve a PUE of 1.3. Operations are expected to commence in mid-2025.

Yashnath Issur, former Head of Global Data Center Portfolio Management at Amazon Web Services, has been appointed as CEO of Nxtra by Airtel. With 16 years of industry experience, Issur has assembled a team of experts to execute Nxtra’s ambitious strategy.

Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, emphasized the critical role of data centers in unlocking Africa’s digital potential: “A rapid increase in data center capacity is essential to support the growth trajectory of Africa’s digital economy. We are proud to spearhead Africa’s digital infrastructure revolution, creating opportunities for businesses to thrive and fueling economic prosperity. Airtel Africa’s proven track record of delivering infrastructure projects across Africa instills confidence in our ability to establish next-generation data centers that cater to global customers and Africa’s emerging tech unicorns alike.”