By Kingsley Samuel
As the January 1, 2027 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for local storage of payment transaction data draws closer, Open Access Data Centre, OADC, has assured banks, fintechs and other payment operators that Nigeria’s data centre infrastructure has sufficient capacity to support full compliance with the directive.
The Chief Executive Officer of OADC, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, gave the assurance during an interactive session with ICT editors, dismissing concerns that the country’s data centre ecosystem lacks the capacity to accommodate financial institutions migrating from offshore data hosting platforms.
According to him, the debate over infrastructure readiness should no longer delay implementation of the CBN directive.
“There is no capacity problem in the high-quality data centres with expansion plans in place. I would really advise people to just get on with the process of figuring out what you need to do. Don’t make excuses,” Coker said.
The CBN, in a circular issued on June 15, 2026, directed all deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, switching and processing companies, payment terminal service providers, payment solution service providers, super agents and other licensed payment operators to store and process payment transaction data generated within Nigeria on local servers.
The directive, which takes effect on January 1, 2027, is aimed at strengthening data sovereignty, regulatory oversight and the security of Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
Since its announcement, concerns have been raised by some operators over whether local data centres possess adequate capacity to absorb the expected increase in demand.
However, Coker insisted that Nigeria’s data centre industry has expanded significantly and is well positioned to support the migration.
He disclosed that more than $2 billion is expected to be invested in Nigeria’s data centre market by 2027, with OADC alone committing $240 million to develop a 24-megawatt hyperscale facility in Lekki.
He added that other operators, including Equinix, Rack Centre and Airtel’s Nxtra, are also expanding their facilities to meet increasing enterprise demand.
According to him, Nigeria’s data centre market, estimated at 136.7 megawatts in 2025, is projected to grow to 279.4 megawatts by 2030, representing an annual growth rate of over 15 per cent.
Explaining the available capacity, Coker said operators currently have three levels of infrastructure: operational space immediately available for customers, shell facilities that can be quickly fitted out, and additional land with approvals already secured for future expansion.
“What you have is, first of all, the land is there. Typically, you build out what’s efficient deployment of capital, and then you have what is actually used and what is immediately available for sale. Data centres have capacity immediately available for sale, as quickly as a client wants to come in,” he said.
On the six-month compliance window, Coker urged financial institutions to begin implementation immediately instead of seeking reasons for delay.
“If your regulator tells you to do something by January one in six months, you get your head down and work out what you need to do. If there are issues or questions, you give very authentic analysis of what it is. You need to present your case,” he said.
He acknowledged that banks and fintechs relying on offshore cloud services such as AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure would have to migrate workloads to local infrastructure or work with providers offering local hosting options, noting that while the process may be complex and costly, it is achievable.
“Do you lift and shift? Do you need to buy new equipment? Do you have equipment lead-time issues? What do you need to do to maintain service? You need to lay it out,” he advised.
Coker also dismissed claims that hosting financial data locally poses greater security risks, arguing that Nigeria’s top-tier data centres meet global physical security standards.
“I think it’s a lot of rubbish talking about issues with security. The data centre security is strong, physical security as you would get elsewhere. The top-end data centres meet global standards,” he said.
He clarified, however, that while data centre operators are responsible for securing physical infrastructure, cybersecurity remains the responsibility of financial institutions managing applications and customer data.
The CBN has warned that compliance with the directive will be closely monitored and that institutions that fail to meet the deadline risk regulatory sanctions.
With six months remaining before enforcement begins, Coker maintained that the country’s infrastructure is no longer the issue.
“The infrastructure exists, capacity is expanding and, in the absence of tangible, validated reasons for delay, financial institutions should simply comply with the regulator’s directive,” he said.
