Oluwamuyiwa Akinmejiwa explains how data sovereignty laws are reshaping digital infrastructure choices for West African banks

According to Oluwamuyiwa Akinmejiwa, end user business leader at Schneider Electric, West African banks are entering a pivotal phase in their digital transformation as stricter data sovereignty laws reshape how financial institutions manage and store sensitive data

Banks across the region are now faced with a critical infrastructure decision: whether to rely on cloud services, colocation facilities, or maintain traditional on-premises systems. As digital services expand, regulatory compliance, security and operational resilience are becoming central to technology strategies.

In countries such as Nigeria and Ghana, legislation including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and the Ghana Data Protection Act 2012 requires banks to ensure that sensitive financial data remains within national borders. These regulations have elevated data protection and compliance from operational considerations to strategic priorities for financial institutions.

As banks modernise their digital infrastructure, hyperscale cloud providers and artificial intelligence (AI) data centres often face challenges in meeting these strict regulatory expectations. Many large cloud platforms operate data centres outside the region or within frameworks that do not fully align with local compliance requirements, making adoption difficult for highly regulated banking environments.

Although cloud platforms offer flexibility and scalability, many banks in the region still favour on-premises systems or locally based colocation facilities. These options help institutions maintain stronger control over data residency and regulatory compliance.

However, both approaches come with limitations. On-premises infrastructure offers maximum control over systems and security policies, while colocation improves physical protection and operational reliability. At the same time, neither option removes the responsibility banks have for securing and managing their own data.

As data volumes grow and AI workloads become more demanding, banks must carefully manage these environments to ensure both performance and security.

Need for balance

For many institutions, the most practical solution lies in a hybrid approach. West African banks increasingly need a balanced mix of on-premises infrastructure, colocation facilities and compliant local cloud services, with each option chosen according to the sensitivity of the data and the regulatory framework governing it.

Hyperscale cloud providers and AI data centres often struggle to meet the compliance requirements of West African banks. In many cases they lack local data residency capabilities, depend on limited regional infrastructure or operate within fragmented regulatory environments.

Even with their advanced technology and global reach, many international providers have yet to deliver solutions that fully align with the expectations of regulators such as the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Data sovereignty, however, is only one aspect of the broader infrastructure challenge. Banks must also consider operational efficiency, cybersecurity risks, integration with legacy systems and the potential dependence on external vendors.

In reality, data sovereignty represents only a portion of the wider regulatory and technological landscape banks must navigate as they modernise their digital infrastructure.

Deciding factors

Local infrastructure capacity often becomes the determining factor in whether banks adopt cloud platforms or continue operating on-premises systems. Reliable electricity supply, high-quality internet connectivity and the availability of secure data-centre facilities all influence these decisions.

Even though cloud platforms provide scalability and efficiency, several large institutions, including Guaranty Trust Bank, FirstBank and Ecobank, still maintain critical systems locally. Hosting these systems on-premises helps ensure compliance with data sovereignty rules while maintaining security oversight and minimising latency for essential services.

In regions where infrastructure remains inconsistent, cloud adoption can become even more challenging. Unstable electricity or unreliable connectivity may push banks to rely on on-premises systems for mission-critical operations such as payments processing and financial trading platforms, despite the higher operational costs.

Data sovereignty and innovation

At the same time, major banks operating across Nigeria, Ghana and the wider West African region continue to pursue innovation. Many institutions are adopting a trust-by-design approach, embedding strong data-protection principles into every digital initiative.

This approach allows banks to deliver modern, customer-focused digital services while maintaining strict data-privacy standards.

By combining trust-by-design strategies, customer-centric digital services, collaboration with fintech partners and close alignment with regulators, West African banks can continue to innovate while protecting sensitive data and maintaining customer confidence.

Governments across the region have also become increasingly protective of strategic data assets. Sensitive financial or identity data stored outside national borders could expose countries to geopolitical risks, cybersecurity threats or other forms of digital vulnerability.

For this reason, regulators are strengthening data-sovereignty and data-residency requirements to ensure that critical information remains within domestic jurisdictions.

The growing investment by global infrastructure companies such as Equinix and Digital Realty in regional data-centre facilities reflects this shift, highlighting rising demand for secure, locally hosted digital infrastructure across West Africa’s evolving financial sector.

The satellite network will be integrated with the Yas core infrastructure across its markets

AXIAN Telecom has announced a partnership with AST SpaceMobile to deliver direct-to-device (D2D) space-based mobile broadband services across Africa, aiming to extend connectivity to remote and underserved regions

The collaboration will enable voice, video, data and internet connectivity to reach rural, maritime and aviation zones that terrestrial mobile networks often struggle to cover. AST SpaceMobile is currently developing what it describes as the first space-based cellular broadband network designed to work directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices.

At the core of the initiative are AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird low Earth orbit satellites, which are designed to provide 4G LTE and 5G broadband services directly to everyday smartphones without the need for additional hardware or specialised applications.

Under the agreement, the satellite network will be integrated with the Yas core infrastructure across its markets. This integration will allow users to access connectivity services seamlessly through their existing mobile devices. The partnership will also focus on developing commercial offerings for consumers, enterprises, Internet of Things applications, maritime and aviation services, as well as emergency response connectivity.

Within the collaboration, Yas will oversee local distribution, regulatory coordination and customer activation through what it describes as a one-click SpaceMobile service.

The initiative forms part of Yas’ broader Data4All strategy, which seeks to expand reliable network access for individuals and businesses across its markets. It is also expected to enhance communication resilience by maintaining connectivity for emergency response operations when terrestrial networks are disrupted.

Speaking on the partnership, Hassan Jaber, CEO of AXIAN Telecom, said, “Our ambition has always been to build a network that works for everyone in Africa, not just those in cities. Connectivity is the foundation on which everything else is built, and there are still too many people and businesses across our markets who are cut off from it. Partnering with AST SpaceMobile gives us the ability to close that gap in a way that was not possible before. Their technology is genuinely different: it works with the phones people already own, which means we can reach underserved communities without asking them to do anything differently. For Yas, this is the next step in making our pan-African network one that truly has no limits.”

Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile, added, “Africa is a critical part of the global connectivity landscape. Together with Yas, we are bringing space-based cellular broadband to people and communities beyond the reach of traditional infrastructure, directly to standard smartphones. This partnership advances our mission to connect the unconnected worldwide and extends the reach of our network across the African continent.”

The partnership will involve integrating AST SpaceMobile’s satellite network with Yas core systems, coordinating spectrum usage and securing regulatory approvals across Yas markets. Once approvals are in place, customers will be able to activate SpaceMobile services through a simplified one-click process.

The service will also be compatible with evolving 5G and IoT standards, supporting future connectivity requirements across the continent.

Exploring new energy supply options for powering the continent’s data centres

Mourad Younis, cloud and services provider segment leader, Schneider Electric, Middle East & Africa, explores new energy supply options for powering the continent’s data centres

Africa’s digital economy is scaling faster than its power systems. Cloud regions, artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, fintech, health platforms and government digitisation are all driving a wave of new data centres across the continent.

Yet too many of these facilities are still designed around a single assumption: when the grid fails, diesel will save the day. In an era of constrained grids, volatile fuel logistics and tightening Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) expectations, this approach is no longer fit for purpose.

The reality on the ground is familiar to every African operator. Grid instability is the rule, not the exception. Voltage sags and swells, harmonics and frequency excursions threaten both IT uptime and cooling performance. Simply adding more protection devices does not solve the problem if operators cannot ‘see’ what is happening on their networks. Power quality visibility, through advanced metering and analytics, has become as strategic as server monitoring.

At the same time, capacity constraints on medium-voltage (MV) feeders and delays to substation upgrades are slowing down expansion from 5 - 20 MW starter sites to 50-100 MW and beyond. The risk is clear: if power infrastructure cannot scale at the same pace as digital demand, the continent’s cloud ambitions will stall.

Rethinking reliability: grid-to-chip, not genset-first

If Africa wants resilient, competitive and sustainable data centres, the starting point must be a grid-to-chip architecture rather than a genset-first mentality. That means treating the entire stack, from utility interconnection down to the rack, as a digitally-orchestrated system.

On the MV side, digital switchgear with built‑in protection and automation can isolate faults in milliseconds and enable self-healing topologies, improving uptime without brute-force redundancy. SF₆‑free switchgear technologies also remove a major greenhouse gas from the reliability equation while easing permitting for large campuses.

Closer to the IT load, high-efficiency, lithium-ion UPS systems are increasingly acting as both critical protection and grid assets. When combined with static transfer switches and modular low‑voltage distribution, they support selective coordination and enable facilities to ride through short disturbances without falling back on diesel. Layered on top, power quality meters and monitoring platforms provide analytics, alarms and compliance reporting that facility managers and regulators can trust.

This is not theory. Facilities that design for end‑to‑end selectivity, maintain total harmonic distortion below 5 %, keep power factor above 0.95 and hold voltage within a tight band at critical buses see fewer nuisance trips, smoother cooling performance and more predictable SLAs.

Cutting diesel dependence with data and automation

The biggest mindset shift is moving from ‘backup at all costs’ to ‘digital energy management’. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) connected at MV level, combined with UPS ride‑through, can provide minutes to hours of autonomy for most grid events. When operators use microgrid controllers and energy management systems to orchestrate grid, PV, BESS and generators in real time, they can materially reduce fuel burn without compromising uptime.

In practice, this means:

• Using peak shaving and demand limiting to reduce generator starts and spinning reserve.

• Prioritising solar PV during the day to offset low‑voltage loads.

• Dynamically shedding non‑critical loads—such as some cooling or auxiliary systems—during severe events, using DCIM and BMS integration.

• Running UPS and power conditioning in carefully validated high‑efficiency modes while keeping power quality within strict limits.

Indicative results from such approaches show 30–60 % less generator runtime and 10–20 % reductions in energy-related OPEX, alongside substantial Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions savings. For operators courting global hyperscalers and cloud service providers, those numbers are no longer ‘nice to have’ - they are part of the investment case.

Utilities and regulators: from constraint to collaborator

None of this happens in a vacuum. Utilities and regulators sit at the centre of whether Africa’s data centre boom will deepen grid stress or strengthen grid resilience. Too often, engagement with utilities starts late and focuses narrowly on connection capacity. That needs to change.

Early interconnection studies, joint protection coordination and clear roadmaps for 10 to 50 to 100 MW expansion should be standard for strategic digital sites. Data centres are uniquely positioned to offer grid services — reactive power support, fast frequency response and demand response using their UPS and storage fleets. If tariff structures, power purchase agreements and wheeling frameworks recognise this value, both sides win.

There is also a capability dimension. Co‑developed training on power quality standards, protection philosophies and digital operations can help utilities and operators converge on a common language. That collaboration is decisive in markets where policymakers see digital infrastructure as a lever for inclusive growth, but where grid investment will take years to catch up.

Design patterns for Africa’s digital decade

What does a practical roadmap look like? For many African markets, a phased approach makes sense.

Phase 1 (5–15 MW): Focus on power quality remediation, lithium‑ion UPS, modest PV penetration and 30–60 minutes of BESS, underpinned by SCADA visibility.

Phase 2 (15–40 MW): Grow PV to 30–40 % of daytime load, extend storage to 1–2 hours, introduce sophisticated microgrid control and enable demand response.

Phase 3 (40–100 MW): Build 2–4 hours of storage, leverage PPAs and wheeling, provide ancillary services to the grid and expand MV feeders with advanced, SF₆‑free switchgear.

Across all phases, integrating cooling into the energy strategy is critical. Precision cooling with variable-speed drives, tied into building and energy management systems, can support load shifting and typically improves Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) by 0.1 to 0.2 - margins that matter in hot climates and volatile grids.

Africa’s digital decade will be defined as much by electrons as by data. Those operators, policymakers and utilities that treat power as a strategic digital enabler, not just an engineering constraint, will shape where cloud regions land, where AI runs and which economies capture the value. Moving beyond diesel dependency towards hybrid, automated, sustainable energy systems is not only possible; it is now imperative for Africa’s data‑driven future. 

Hurricane Electric expands network reach in Durban

Hurricane Electric has expanded its global network footprint with the launch of a new Point of Presence (PoP) at Open Access Data Centres DUR1, located at 3 Oppenheimer Road, Durban 4000, South Africa

The deployment strengthens connectivity options along the country’s east coast and across the broader Southern African region.

OADC DUR1 delivers a secure, carrier neutral colocation facility with access to both regional and international telecommunications providers, as well as major Internet exchanges. Based in Durban, Africa’s busiest port and a key commercial hub, the site connects enterprises, cloud platforms, content providers and service operators to global digital corridors serving KwaZulu Natal and neighbouring markets.

Durban’s strategic importance in global connectivity continues to grow, supported by new subsea cable systems, expanded terrestrial fibre networks and rising demand for cloud computing, financial services, logistics technologies and digital trade. The province’s industrial strength and its role as a gateway between African economies and markets in Asia and Europe are reinforcing its position within the continent’s evolving digital ecosystem.

The new PoP enhances network reliability by strengthening fault tolerance, traffic distribution and congestion control for advanced IP services across South Africa and nearby countries. Customers at OADC DUR1 can connect to Hurricane Electric’s IPv4 and IPv6 backbone through 100GE, 10GE and GigE ports, enabling high capacity and scalable access.

“We are pleased to expand Hurricane Electric’s presence in South Africa with this new Point of Presence at OADC DUR1 in Durban,” said Mike Leber, president of Hurricane Electric. “Durban’s strategic coastal location, growing digital economy, and role as a regional connectivity gateway make it an ideal site to support customers across Southern Africa.”

With this addition, organisations in Durban and surrounding areas can directly exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric’s global infrastructure, which maintains more than 40,000 BGP sessions with over 10,500 networks across more than 320 exchange points worldwide.

The launch underscores Hurricane Electric’s continued investment in Africa’s digital landscape, reinforcing its commitment to delivering low latency, resilient internet connectivity to enterprises, financial institutions, hyperscalers, research networks and service providers throughout the region.