ISPON insists as unacceptable 30% utilisation rate of 11 datacenters in Nigeria

President, Institute of Software Practitioners Association of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, has expressed some worries as there are only eleven datacenters in Nigeria and the largest are expanding their capacity constantly in anticipation of a growing demand.

Mba-Uzoukwu stated that he is worried because, currently the utilisation of capacity for these eleven datacenters, probably sits at below 30%.

He made ISPON’s position known in a goodwill message at a Technology Forum organized by the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) in Lagos on Thursday, May 28, 2021, on the theme: “Achieving 30% Growth In Local Cloud Hosting By 2024”.

Mba-Uzoukwu noted that the topic was timely even as “we are faced with a puzzling question: the housing estates that our friends are building against all odds in a super-challenging environment, will they be occupied by offshore tenants or ourselves?

“There are 11 datacenters in Nigeria and the largest are expanding their capacity constantly in anticipation of a growing demand but currently the utilisation of capacity probably sits at below 30%.

“With four certified Tier 3 Constructed Facilities in Nigeria and more on the way, the Africa datacenter market is expected to cross $3bn by 2025, growing at a CAGR over 12%.

“This indicates that despite the forecasted growth in installed capacity, the patronage by way of utilisation does not match the expected levels”.

Unformed report, he said also indicates that Galaxy Backbone Limited which is the only Uptime Institute Certified Tier 3 Datacenter in the public sector (in Nigeria) is currently estimated at 38% capacity utilisation of its 2.5MW capacity.

To this end, the President of ISPON said, “We must ask why”.

“The 2020 GSMA report highlights that availability of internet services has not translated to adoption while there is no established correlation between broadband availability and indicators of innovation such as hubs and software companies e.g. Aba, Enugu, Calabar, Benin and Jos have limited broadband and predominantly 2.5G/3G networks yet host significant innovation activity.

“ISPON’s research indicates that this puzzling scenario is directly related to local software – local in the sense of being developed by Nigerians for Nigerians to solve Nigerian problems.

“While we have seen phenomenal growth in the fintech space, the vector and velocity for the evolution of Software Nigeria as a whole remains constrained by the extent to which the Digital Economy which is emerging is anchored on local innovation and local utilisation.

“The datacenters performance is driven by users are large corporates and MNCs for whom data services are not taken lightly as they commit to long-term relationships on the basis of reliability especially High Availability which is indexed to global standards. In this context, Digital Transformation, especially in the public sector is critical pre-requisite.

“Digital Transformation delivers joined-up government that enables the policy and process of governance to ride on top of IT infrastructure from broadband to software solution stacks. It also presents opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation to flourish as solution providers get work to do. For this dynamic to be accelerated and proliferated, it is difficult to over-estimate or emphasise the importance of the Local Cloud which must be the initial point of access for a broad-based digital adoption and transformation strategy in a rising tide that lifts all.

“We often fail to recognise and prioritize this fundamental – perhaps it is an inconvenient truth?

“There is much to unpack in this but it will suffice to say that ISPON believes that the Software Nigeria and Data Nigeria are conjoined twins – separating the two is not only difficult but in this case, it is foolhardy because what we share is vital to the survival of each twin. Let us therefore proceed with this in mind!”

He also commended NITRA for hosting the event, adding that ISPON sees the Association as an integral component of the technology ecosystem as partners as well as practitioners whose largely unsung efforts have been pivotal to the emergence of the industry we celebrate today as Africa’s most vibrant and fastest evolving technology ecosystem.

“ISPON celebrates you, one and all!

“We are therefore extremely pleased to be a part of this celebration and the discussions that follow will be one more block laid by NITRA in the tremendous role being played by your Association and members in the growth of the Digital Economy.

“We thank you for what you do and once again, give our assurances of a continued partnership.