The Nigerian government will enforce local data hosting once the local capacity meets the requirement
Nigerian minister of communication Adebayo Shittu said that once Nigerian data centres have enough capacity locally to handle data generated within the country, the government will put a stop to its data being hosted abroad.
Shittu, who was visiting Rack Centre, Nigeria’s premium Tier-III data centre, said that as soon as the local capacity was met, the government would compel ministries, department and agencies (MDA) to host locally.
Rack Centre managing director Ayotunde Coker commented that they would be able to achieve that capacity. The company has doubled their capacity from 119 to 225 racks within seven months and is working towards meeting local needs.
“We intend to build that capacity. We have the blueprint and have proved that it can be done by doubling our capacity of the centre within just seven months, ahead of time and within budget.”
Enforcing local data hosting will help improve the economy and provide job opportunities for skilled individuals. Currently patronising data centres in Nigeria is very expensive as a result of the expenses incurred by data centre owners to provide the required infrastructure.
