Experts in Information Communication Technology in Nigeria have disclosed that the country’s environment is not so conducive for data centres.
The Chief Executive Officer, Rack Centre, Mr. Tunde Coker, explained that for operators in the country to meet local needs and comply with the global standards, they needed a conducive and business friendly environment for their operations.
“The humidity around the month of March could be 90-95 per cent, and sometimes 97 per cent. The temperature can be at 37 degree centigrade; and that is very high. We are seemingly a power company because we generate our power. Of recent, we entered into discussions with the Ikeja Electric for a dedicated line. We are working with them as engineers, not a hook and switch-on sort of, because we need industrial power. We are creating power utilisation effectiveness in West Africa. We have built something that is conducive to the Nigerian environment,” he said.
On the reason African datum centres don’t get Uptime Institute Certification, another operator, Engr. Gbenga Odutolu, explained that the innovation was like detailed aircraft certification that required huge investment and not cutting corners.
He said, “Procrastination is also not helpful when it comes to this kind of business. There are a whole lot of reasons companies are not ready to go for the certification. Anybody can say, ‘I am built to Tier III standard,’ but the certification is very important.
“It is like boarding a car driven by someone with a driving licence, and the other without a licence. He might be a perfect driver, but without the licence, even the law will be against you. The licence gives you more confidence in the person, as it is very rare to have someone with a licence and unable to drive – he must have gone through the learning process and tests.”
How does the certification add value to local content? Coker said, “If we have built our data centres to internationally-acclaimed standards, it then implies that we can attract more companies to host their services in Africa. In that vein, we are exporting Nigeria’s services to other players. It is a point of export that will not only discourage our people heading abroad to host, but will boost our foreign exchange. If that happens, and even if our facilities get full, we are sure to extend it.”
He added that research had shown that for every $1 million invested in the sub-sector, “you could get $10 million to $100 million impact on the Gross Domestic Product. All through the process, you are developing local capabilities. With cloud-on-ground, indigenous data centres can deliver services at the right price and at higher performance.”
