Nigerian data center firm Rack Centre teamed with EdgeNext to boost data-heavy applications in the country.

EdgeNext’s content delivery network (CDN) and cloud services will be hosted at Rack Centre’s cloud-neutral data center in Lagos in a bid to reduce latency amid an influx of internet demand.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, Nigeria has a population of around 227 million, with demand for internet and mobile services soaring. Figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission saw internet penetration jump to 48.15% in April, though the country has an ambitious goal of seeing that number rise to 70% by the end of 2025.

Rack Centre’s EdgeNext hosting aims to bring faster data delivery to the increasing number of Nigerian internet users. It’ll also provide plug-and-play cloud hosting to boost local businesses wanting to take their businesses to the cloud.

“Expanding our CDN and cloud hosting services into Nigeria marks a significant step in EdgeNext’s mission to enhance digital performance across emerging markets,” EdgeNext CEO Terence Wang explained. “We are creating the foundation for a more connected, efficient, and innovative digital economy in Nigeria.”

The CDN will be hosted in Rack Centre’s LGS2 facility, which officially opened back in April. The site offers some 12 megawatts (MW) of capacity across six data halls, spanning 34,875-square feet of white space.

Local users will also gain an advantage from the site’s subsea cable connections. LGS2 offers direct connectivity to all of the cable landings on Africa’s Atlantic coast, including Equiano and the upcoming 2Africa cable.

LGS2 is Rack Centre’s second site in Lagos, joining the 1.5-MW facility LGS1.

“This collaboration underscores the strength of Nigeria’s data infrastructure and reinforces Rack Centre’s commitment to enabling sustainable digital growth,” Rock Centre CEO Lars Johannisson added. “Our LGS2 facility provides the capacity, connectivity, and resilience needed for enterprises like EdgeNext to deliver best-in-class digital experiences.”

Johannisson took over as the firm’s CEO in January 2024, having previously held the same position at French outsourcing firm Teleperformance.

Content delivery networks 101

CDNs are a disparate network of servers designed to make web pages load that little bit faster. Having first appeared around two decades ago, CDNs take a user request and direct it to the nearest server to the user, thereby reducing latency and improving load times.

In the decades since their initial deployment, CDNs have gone from boosting web page speeds to enabling data-intensive applications to run faster, including audio and video streaming and online video games.

Recent CDN deployment examples include helping reduce latency to boost viewer experiences during this summer’s Club World Cup and a global network from podcasting platform SoundStack aimed at bringing audio processing closer to listeners and content creators.