Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional digital infrastructure hub received a boost as indigenous technology firm 21st Century Technologies signed a strategic partnership with China Mobile International to expand sovereign cloud platforms in the country.
The agreement, signed in Lagos, is expected to strengthen local data hosting capabilities, thus improving access to cloud services and to accelerate the deployment of sovereign AI solutions.
It comes at a time when policymakers are pushing for greater data sovereignty and local content retention, which will lead to increased use of, and demand for, domestic datacentres.
Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Technologies, Wale Ajisebutu, said the partnership builds on nearly three decades of investment by the company in Nigeria’s telecommunications and digital infrastructure ecosystem.
According to him, the collaboration combines 21st Century Technologies’ extensive local infrastructure footprint with China Mobile’s global technology capabilities and cloud solutions.
Ajisebutu noted that Nigeria generates enormous volumes of digital content and data, much of which is still hosted outside the country. He hopes the agreement will drive the next phase of cloud adoption in Nigeria.
Growing domestic cloud adoptoion and government-backed data sovereignty initiatives are creating the right conditions for organisations to migrate their workloads to local facilities.
He said the country’s existing datacentre infrastructure remains underutilised despite increasing demand for digital services, adding that the new partnership would help unlock opportunities for businesses seeking secure, scalable and locally-hosted cloud solutions.
Speaking at the launch event, Terry Leung, MD, Africa at China Mobile International, said that cloud infrastructure has become a critical pillar of economic competitiveness globally and would help Nigeria keep pace with emerging technologies.
He noted that China Mobile International serves more than one billion subscribers and operates across 55 countries, and added that the Nigerian platform would provide cloud resources and digital applications for the country’s businesses, government institutions and individuals, while laying the foundation for future AI-driven services.
Share
