Equinix, the global digital infrastructure giant and parent company of MainOne, has highlighted both the rapid progress and lingering challenges facing digital infrastructure development in West Africa.
Wole Abu, Equinix’s Managing Director for West Africa, acknowledged strides made in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, while stressing that substantial work remains to unlock the region’s full digital potential.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, and it starts with improving resilience to avoid a repeat of last year’s disruptions,” Abu stated, referencing recent infrastructure challenges. He noted that both local governments and global entities such as the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) are taking action. Notably, the ICPC held its International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in Abuja in February 2025—the first ever hosted outside Europe.
Abu emphasized the importance of treating data centers and submarine cables as critical national infrastructure, noting Equinix’s ongoing investment in network resilience. “We’re routing traffic over multiple cables in West Africa on an active/active basis,” he said, aiming to ensure automatic rerouting in the event of a cable failure.
He also addressed the “middle-mile” infrastructure gap: “New cable capacity is helpful, but it needs to be supported by terrestrial fiber to reach end users—an area where West Africa still lags, especially beyond coastal cities like Lagos, Accra, and Abidjan.”
Equinix, which operates in over 70 markets globally, entered the African market in 2022 with its $320 million acquisition of MainOne. The deal brought with it four operational data centers, a 7,000-kilometer submarine cable system linking Portugal to West Africa, and a 1,200-kilometer terrestrial fiber network across Nigerian states.
Looking ahead, Abu revealed that Equinix plans to invest $140 million over the next two years to expand digital infrastructure across the region, reinforcing its commitment to Africa’s digital future.