Data Centres Are Becoming Lagos’s Hottest Real Estate Asset: Here’s What That Really Means
When most people think of real estate in Lagos, they typically envision houses, estates, offices, or shopping malls. But quietly, a different kind of property is becoming one of the city’s most valuable assets.
According to the recent Lagos Real Estate Development Pipeline Report 2025/26, data centres are now the fastest-growing real estate asset class in Lagos, with total capacity projected to exceed 218 megawatts (MW) by 2030.
That sentence may sound technical, but it signals a significant shift in how Lagos is being developed.
First, what exactly is a data centre?
A data centre is a purpose-built facility that houses servers, cloud storage systems, internet exchange infrastructure, and enterprise and financial data platforms. These buildings power:
banks and fintech apps
telecom networks
streaming platforms
government systems
global cloud services
They are not offices or factories, but they are highly valuable real estate because they are fixed, infrastructure-heavy, and leased long-term.
Why data centres are now considered real estate assets
These facilities are:
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land + buildings + heavy utilities: They sit on large plots of land, require specialised construction, and consume enormous amounts of power.
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leased long-term (often multi-year contracts): Typically leased to corporate or global clients on long contracts
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sticky tenants (you don’t “move servers” casually): Once a data centre is built, it is extremely expensive to relocate.
For investors, they behave more like ports, power plants, and logistics hubs than conventional property. That’s why they are now tracked alongside housing, offices, and industrial property in Lagos real estate reports.
What does “218MW by 2030” actually mean?
When analysts talk about data centres, they don’t measure size by the number of floors or buildings. They measure them by power capacity because power determines how many servers can run, how much data can be processed, and how much revenue the facility can generate.
So when reports project 218 megawatts (MW) of data centre capacity in Lagos by 2030, they are saying something very specific:
Lagos is expected to host industrial-scale digital infrastructure capable of consuming as much electricity as a medium-sized city, running continuously, 24 hours a day. That is not a casual number.
To put it in perspective, each additional megawatt of data centre capacity requires large, secure plots of land, redundant power systems, advanced cooling and water infrastructure, high-capacity fibre connectivity, and controlled security.
At scale, this means billions of dollars are being committed to long-term infrastructure, not housing built to be flipped, but facilities designed to operate continuously and remain in place for decades.
Crucially, data centres are not built on hype. They are built because demand already exists: from banks, telecom operators, cloud providers, fintech companies, and government systems that need reliable, local data processing.
A projection like 218MW is therefore a vote of confidence:
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in Lagos’s digital economy
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in its role as West Africa’s connectivity hub
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and in the city’s ability to support infrastructure that must operate without interruption
This is not speculative real estate.
Why Lagos is at the centre of this shift
Data centres grow where three conditions overlap: digital demand, connectivity, and infrastructure. Lagos increasingly has all three.
1. Explosive digital demand
Lagos is home to:
Africa’s largest fintech ecosystem
major banks and telecom operators
a fast-growing digital population
As more services move online, data must be stored and processed locally to reduce cost and delay.
2. Strategic connectivity
Lagos is a landing point for major undersea internet cables connecting Nigeria to global networks. This makes it the natural location for data processing hubs serving West Africa.
Where the cables land, data centres follow.
3. Infrastructure-grade investment appetite
Unlike residential property, data centres attract:
institutional investors
foreign capital
infrastructure-focused funds
These investors are comfortable funding long-term assets that generate predictable income, even if they take years to fully mature.
Where data centres are clustering in Lagos
Although data centres are highly technical, their location choices follow clear real estate logic.
Lekki, Victoria Island, Ikoyi.
This corridor has become Lagos’s primary connectivity spine:
proximity to cable landing points
access to enterprise clients
high-security, premium infrastructure
It is already home to several major data facilities and is likely to continue attracting expansion.
Ikeja, Oregun, Alausa.
On the mainland, this axis benefits from:
proximity to government institutions
industrial zoning
established power and fibre routes
It serves the demand of enterprises and governments that do not require coastal proximity but need reliability.
Eko Atlantic and other purpose-built zones
Planned districts with modern infrastructure and controlled access are attractive for data centres serving finance, cloud services, and international clients.
Lekki Free Zone and Ibeju-Lekki (next phase)
As data centres scale, operators increasingly look for:
larger land parcels
industrial buffers
room for future expansion
This makes the broader Lekki–Epe corridor a strong candidate for the next generation of large data campuses.
Why this matters for the wider Lagos real estate market
Even if you never invest in a data centre, this trend affects you.
1. Land values shift
Areas with reliable power, fibre access, and industrial zoning start to price differently.
2. Infrastructure standards rise
Data centres demand high-quality roads, drainage, security, and utilities, raising the bar for surrounding developments.
3. “Prime” real estate is being redefined
Prime is no longer just about views or prestige. It is about infrastructure readiness.
4. Lagos is becoming an infrastructure city
Real estate growth is no longer driven only by housing demand but by ports, logistics, and digital infrastructure. This changes how capital evaluates the city.
Final Thoughts
The rise of data centres signals a deeper shift in how Lagos is being built: away from visible, people-facing property and toward infrastructure that quietly underpins the city’s digital economy.
Whether Lagos can fully realise this opportunity will depend less on demand, which already exists, and more on its ability to support the fundamentals: reliable power, water, connectivity, planning, and long-term infrastructure coordination.
In that sense, data centres are not just a new real estate asset. They are a test of the city’s readiness for the next phase of growth.
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