Airtel Africa has officially launched Nxtra by Airtel, a robust data centre business designed to meet the escalating demand for reliable and sustainable data capacity across the African continent.

Nxtra aims to establish one of Africa's most extensive networks of high-capacity data centres strategically positioned in key cities within Airtel Africa's footprint.

The new venture seeks to address the burgeoning requirements of African enterprises, with a focus on hosting the next generation of computing while providing multi-megawatt capacity in a phased manner.

Nxtra's facilities will adhere to stringent global security standards, ensuring 'five nines' availability and offering secure and scalable integrated solutions to a diverse clientele, including global hyperscalers, large African enterprises, startups, SMEs, and governments.

In conjunction with Airtel Africa's extensive fibre footprint, Nxtra aims to enhance the speed of access to digital services and reduce the cost of data management.

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This move is anticipated to stimulate innovation and support the emergence of a new generation of tech talent within Africa.

Additionally, Nxtra aims to facilitate compliance with data sovereignty requirements while fostering the provision of more local cloud services in the countries where Airtel Africa operates.

The flagship Nxtra facility, situated in Lagos, Nigeria, is slated to deliver a total power capacity of 34 MW.

Engineered to accommodate high-density racks and constructed using the latest best practices, the facility aims to achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3. It is scheduled to go live in mid-2025.

Yashnath Issur, the former head of Global Data Centre Portfolio Management at Amazon Web Services, has been appointed as the CEO of Nxtra by Airtel.

With 16 years of industry experience, Yashnath has assembled a team of experts to execute Nxtra's strategic vision.

Commenting on the initiative, Segun Ogunsanya, Airtel Africa's Group CEO, expressed confidence in the company's ability to support the digital infrastructure growth in Africa.

"A rapid increase in data centre capacity is needed to support the growth potential of Africa’s digital economy. We’re proud to drive the future of Africa’s digital infrastructure, unlocking opportunities for businesses to grow and fuelling economic prosperity," Ogunsanya stated.

"Airtel Africa's team has consistently shown our ability to deliver on infrastructure projects across Africa, and we are confident that our next-generation data centres will support our ambition to become the partner of choice for global customers and Africa's newest tech unicorns alike."