Nigeria emerges as West African hub for data centres and specialized real estate

Nigeria is emerging as a primary hub for data centre expansion in West Africa. According to a Knight Frank report, the country’s large enterprise base and subsea cable connectivity position it to anchor regional digital demand. Lagos is expected to serve as a major low-latency hub for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) market. Estimates suggest Nigeria’s installed capacity could rise from 56.1 MW in 2025 to over 218 MW by 2030.

This growth is supported by a data localisation policy from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which requires banks and fintech companies to host customer and transaction data within the country by January 2027.

Simultaneously, the Nigerian commercial real estate market is seeing a shift in how large corporations approach office space. Multinationals are increasingly moving away from simple rentals toward dedicated, business-ready workplaces. This trend is driven by a need for greater operational control, enhanced security, and specialized infrastructure to support productivity and regulatory compliance.