Some experts have underscored the crucial need for enhanced accessibility, affordability, and robust infrastructure resilience to foster off-site innovation within Africa’s growing data centre landscape.
The experts said this during a panel session at the IoT West Africa Data Centre, Cloud Expo, Power and Water Conference on Thursday in Lagos.
They stressed that while infrastructure development was progressing, the critical factors enabling wider adoption and sustainable growth lay in making services more attainable for a larger population
They also canvassed for the designing of systems that could withstand various disruptions.
Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Rack Centre, Mr Lars Johanisson, said that the primary barrier to off-site innovation was not necessarily the lack of infrastructure itself, but rather its accessibility and affordability.
“If the current high cost of data centre packages, such as the $1,900 per month offering, becomes more accessible to a broader demographic, the necessary infrastructure will naturally expand and scale,” Johanisson said.
Johanisson emphasised that focusing on the dynamics and ecosystem pieces that facilitate affordability would lead to data centres emerging in more locations beyond traditional hubs like Lagos and Abuja.
“We need to design data centres with ‘today and ready for tomorrow’ in mind, anticipating future demands and ensuring sustainable operations.
“These include addressing massive power needs with a sustainable footprint to meet evolving client, shareholder, and societal expectations,” Johanisson added.
The Senior Data Centre and Critical Power Manager at Huawei, Mr Prosper Egbedi further delved into the criticality of infrastructure resilience, particularly concerning uptime, performance, and service delivery for cloud and lab-based operations.
Egbedi explained that resilience ensured critical equipment and infrastructure remained operational, even in the face of unexpected downtime or cyber attacks.
The Huawei official emphasised that effective resilience began with meticulous design, anticipating worst-case scenarios and implementing robust engineering plans.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and recent economic shifts in Nigeria underscores the vital role of resilient digital infrastructure, particularly for emerging fintech companies that gained prominence when traditional banking services faced challenges,” Egbedi noted.
To achieve this, he advocated for providing redundancy at various levels, including physical component redundancy, and designing for different tier levels such as Tier 3 and Tier 4.
“For cloud service providers, creating multiple availability zones is crucial to ensure continuous service, even if one zone experiences an outage,” Egbedi said.
The Country Director for Sudlows Africa, Riaan De Leeuw focused on connectivity as a fundamental enabler for off-site data centres.
He noted that the immediate challenge for businesses migrating to data centres was the physical distance from their equipment.
De Leeuw said that this had necessitated robust connectivity for remote access, maintenance and user interaction.
He noted that while Nigeria had numerous registered Internet Service Providers (ISPs), only a fraction possessed physical fiber infrastructure, underscoring the need for diverse and redundant connectivity pathways.
“A multi-layered approach to building resilient systems is essential, ensuring not only business continuity but also a country’s active participation in the global internet landscape,” De Leeuw stressed.
Also, the Head of Converged Digital Infrastructure Africa at OADC, Obinna Ademike addressed the persistent challenge of power across the continent, describing it as the heart of a data centre.
“Africa’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) benchmark of around 1.3 is significantly higher than the global standard of 1.0 to 1.2, indicating inefficiencies,” Ademike noted.
Ademike emphasised key design parameters for power, including reliable utility power and alternative sources such as generators, UPS systems and efficient cooling solutions.
“There is a growing shift towards green energy concepts, with generators being replaced by Energy Saving Capacitors (ESS) and solar inverters with lithium batteries to mitigate the high cost of diesel and reduce pollution,” Ademike highlighted.
He emphasised redundancy in power systems, such as using multiple generators for Tier 2 or Tier 3 designs, and online UPS for continuous operation during power cuts.
“These technological advancements are evolving the industry towards potentially unmanned operations, driven by Artificial Intelligence and remote monitoring, ultimately enhancing efficiency and reliability,” Ademike said.
NAN
