MainOne, an Equinix company that provides data centres in West Africa and connectivity solutions, has signed an agreement with the Akwa Ibom state government to provide high-speed connectivity.
MainOne will build about 140 kilometres of metro fibre infrastructure to “unlock the full potential of digital connectivity for all of South-South.”
This development comes after the company landed 2Africa’s 45,000-kilometre subsea cable system at Qua Iboe Beach in Akwa Ibom, connecting the state and other underserved/unserved regions of Nigeria to Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa.
Landing this submarine cable infrastructure with a capacity of 180 terabits per second will aid in the rapid expansion of 4G, 5G, and fixed broadband access, improving digital transformation across critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy.
On March 25, 2024, the company announced that it had restored services and enabled regional interconnection to ensure stability in West Africa’s digital ecosystem, with a repair timeline of 6 to 8 weeks due to the number of damaged cables. It came weeks after a submarine cable was damaged, causing Internet outages in parts of Africa.
In April 2022, MainOne opened a new data centre in Lagos State. Customers have access to a rich ecosystem of telecom operators, global networks, financial services companies, and content providers in West Africa, thanks to the facility’s established presence on the Lekki campus. It also offers connectivity to all of Nigeria’s top telecom networks.
In recent years, Nigeria has seen a rapid increase in digital adoption, with mobile network access playing an essential role. In February 2024, the country, through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, launched ‘Project 774 LG Connectivity,’ an initiative to address limited internet and digital access by connecting all 774 Local Government Secretariats in Nigeria to the internet.
According to Minister Bosun Tijani, the initiative aims to promote inclusive development and improve access to digital public infrastructure in governmental establishments throughout Nigeria, including the most remote areas that may have been overlooked or lack adequate services.
According to Statista, Internet user penetration in Nigeria increased slightly between 2018 and 2022, rising from about 26% to more than 38%. As of 2022, the country’s estimated internet user base was over 83 million.
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