Nigeria needs smarter data centres, says Schneider

Schneider Electric has said Nigeria’s ability to compete in the fast-expanding global artificial intelligence economy will depend on whether the country invests in smarter, energy-efficient and high-density data centres rather than simply expanding physical capacity.

With AI adoption accelerating across industries, Schneider Electric said organisations that will lead in the coming years are those aligning their infrastructure with the demands of high-intensity computing.

The company in a note shared with The PUNCH said that data centres optimised for AI now require advanced thermal management, stronger power resilience and modular systems that support rapid scaling.

The Country President, Schneider Electric, West Africa, Ajibola Akindele, said AI is reshaping how businesses operate and pushing data centres to deliver more capacity with greater efficiency.

“For Nigeria to capture the full value of AI, we must invest in infrastructure that is modern, flexible, and resilient. At Schneider Electric, we are committed to supporting Nigerian organisations with solutions that help them grow confidently and compete on a global stage,” he said.

The company said power and cooling, once treated as routine operational issues, have become strategic considerations that directly influence performance, deployment speed and sustainability outcomes.

It added that global investment underscores this shift, with the world’s leading technology companies projected to spend more than $320bn on AI infrastructure and data centres in 2025, 60 per cent of which will go into new capacity.

Schneider Electric warned that traditional cooling systems can no longer support the density of modern AI workloads, with some AI-optimised facilities already recording densities above 140 kW per rack. It said liquid cooling technologies are becoming essential as operators look to reduce energy use, improve efficiency and manage thermal loads more effectively.

In Nigeria, where power costs remain a major challenge, the company said precision energy management could help operators reduce diesel dependency, lower operational spending and strengthen the resilience of digital services.

The firm pointed to its global collaboration with NVIDIA as an example of solutions built for AI-heavy environments. The partnership includes reference architectures that support high-density racks, integrate liquid cooling and shorten deployment timelines, models the company said could guide Nigeria’s expanding data centre market.

The note also highlighted the growing relevance of modular and prefabricated data centre designs, which can cut deployment timelines from up to two years to as little as seven months. This approach, it said, is particularly suited to Nigeria’s fast-rising digital economy, where speed, scalability and cost efficiency are critical.

According to market forecasts cited in the document, the global modular data centre segment is expected to grow from $29.9bn in 2024 to $79.5bn by 2030.

Schneider noted that the message for Nigerian businesses is clear: the future of AI competitiveness will favour those who deploy intelligent, efficient and adaptable infrastructure. Organisations that fail to upgrade, it warned, risk higher costs, slower innovation and shrinking competitive ground.

By adopting high-density, AI-optimised systems, the company said Nigerian firms can strengthen performance, improve energy efficiency and support a more competitive digital economy.