Airtel Nigeria reportedly plans to build a carrier-neutral 38MW hyperscale data centre in Eko Atlantic City in Lagos to meet surging demand for cloud and AI services.

According to TechAfrica News, the data centre – which will be part of Airtel’s broader Nxtra network of data centres – will be designed to handle next-generation compute workloads, including GPU-powered infrastructure essential for AI applications.

The facility will host over 3,000 racks across six floors and high power density with up to 25kW per rack. It will also feature energy-efficient systems targeting a PUE of less than 1.4, and redundant power sourced from multiple substations, the report said.

The data centre’s location in Eko Atlantic City also offers close proximity to subsea cable landing stations and dense fibre routes, the report said.

Airtel Nigeria CEO Dinesh Balsingh told a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday that the data centre will cost over US$120 million, and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2026, the report added.

Eko Atlantic City – also known as Nigeria International Commerce City – is being developed on reclaimed land on Victoria Island next to Lagos, ostensibly to alleviate a real estate shortage in Lagos, but also to create new business opportunities for investors and serve as gateway to other markets on the African continent.

According to local newspaper Punch, Eko Atlantic has drawn several big-name corporate tenants, including First Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Group and MTN Nigeria, which is relocating its national headquarters there.

Airtel Nigeria’s announcement comes a month after MTN Nigeria officially launched the first phase of its US$235 million data centre in Lagos, along with a cloud service to compete against the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google.

Earlier this year, WIOCC Group subsidiary Open Access Data Centres (OADC) said it plans to invest up to US$240 million to expand the capacity of its latest data centre in Lagos from 1.5MW to 24MW by 2027.