West Africa’s largest carrier-neutral data centre and a fully owned subsidiary of MainOne is leading the way in reducing greenhouse gas emission in its quest to promote sustainable development.
The need to maintain equilibrium between human development and preservation of the environment has brought huge focus on carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions management, justifying why the West Africa’s largest data centre champions greenhouse-gas emission reduction the way it is currently doing.
MDXi Data Centre is a MainOne company registered in Nigeria as MainData Nigeria Limited (MDXi). In January 2015, MDXi launched its flagship data centre project, “MDXi Lekki,” with the sole purpose of developing a hub for regional connectivity, while serving as the primary point for traffic aggregation in West Africa. MDXi’s Lekki data centre is currently the largest purpose-built commercial data centre in West Africa.
Globally, a considerable number of environmentally responsible firms are becoming more mindful of their carbon footprint and the impact it has on the communities in which they operate.
One of such organizations, MDXi, a primary provider of colocation and data center services to organizations across West Africa, has over the years implemented policies that have significantly reduced its carbon footprint in its facilities.
In a recent interview, Mr. Gbenga Adegbiji, MDXi chief operating officer, stated that in January 2021, MDXi recorded 100 percent availability of supply from the national grid through the Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC).
“This excellent availability record meant the company did not have to run any of our four heavy duty power generating sets it owns, thereby saving a huge amount of carbon emissions, and contributing our own quota to the environment. The availability means stability of all facility equipment and more peace of mind for our customers aside from the added benefit of reducing carbon footprint,” he noted.
According to Adegbiji, “the company has started to reap the full benefits of its green power initiatives embarked upon some years ago with an investment of close to $1million in direct connection of its Lekki Data Centre to the national grid in order to enjoy 100 percent power availability from the grid.”
Since it launched in 2015, MDXi has operated carrier-neutral facilities and has harnessed MainOne’s network footprint to not only interconnect all major network and content providers in the West African sub-region, but also enable ISPs and virtual network operators connect to the data centers to provide services to hosted customers.
The organization says it has a focus on deliberate action and a commitment to doing what is right even though it comes at a high cost. It also believes that obtaining 100 percent of its power supply from the national grid due to private investment implies reducing its dependence on burning fossil fuels.
In addition, even before construction commenced, the organization ensured that the data centre was positioned in a location with ease of access to the national grid.
“As a market leader in data center solutions, MDXi ensures that energy efficiency and environmental sustainability is a major aspect of our centers, like the upcoming Lekki 2 and Sagamu data centers and the new Appolonia (Accra) data centre, which received its tier 3 design certifications and will be ready for commissioning in a couple of weeks,” Adegbiji added.
The company also communicated that there were ongoing strategic efforts to explore additional green initiatives, such as utilizing solar to generate power for the additional MDXi data center facilities located in Lagos, Nigeria, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and Accra, Ghana.
