Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest telecom markets on the back of having a strong economic support. In fact, the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has helped its telecom sector to grow in terms of investments. It is reported that the sector is attracting foreign investors, especially from China. The Nigerian government is also stimulating investments through infrastructure programmes.
The country has been in the forefront of developing data centres across markets outside the US and Europe. More recently, Equinox and Omantel have launched the former’s first data centre in Oman. With that, it becomes the company’s fourth data centre in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Talal Al Mamari, CEO of Omantel, said in a statement, “Today, data center infrastructure sits at the heart of global ICT and enables all of us to enjoy the cloud-based apps and services we use every day. The new IBX in Oman represents a significant step forward for Oman and the Middle Eastern ICT markets. We are delighted that the facility is now open and, together with Equinix, we hope to enable a new era of telecommunications both regionally and globally. Coupled with the majority of the GCC’s international submarine cables landing in Oman, all accessible from the Equinix data center, we believe this partnership will further enhance Oman’s competitiveness in the global digital economy.”
It is reported that the data centre is located in Barka. The data centre is drawing benefits from the connectivity to cable landing stations and subsea cable systems. Two years ago, Equinox and Omantel had established a strategic partnership to build a data centre in Oman.