MDXi, MainOne’s subsidiary, leads way in energy efficiency, environmental sustainability

• As Africa accounts least GHG emissions, but continent loses $15bn yearly to climate change
• UNFCC: Africa most vulnerable to climate change via droughts, floods, low food production

AfDB commits $12.5bn to climate finance

MDXi, West Africa’s largest carrier-neutral data centre and a fully owned subsidiary of MainOne, the broadband infrastructure company, is leading the way in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its quest to promote sustainable development, said GbengaAdegbiji, the chief operating officer.

It comes as Africa is easily contributing the least of any continent to global warming. Africa, with a bulging population of 1.3 billion people, produces 2–3 per cent of world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources, according to the United Nations Fact Sheet on Climate Change (UNFCC). However, the UNFCC said the continent is most vulnerable to climate change. Seven of the 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa. In 2015, four African countries ranked among the 10 countries most affected: Mozambique (1st), Malawi (3rd), Ghana and Madagascar (joint 8th position).

Meanwhile, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said Africa is losing between $7 billion and $15 billion annually from the vagaries of climate change. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the loss could rise to $50 billion annually by 2040. The AfDB said it has committed an additional $12.5 billion to climate finance between 2020-2025.

According to MDXi’s COO, the need to maintain equilibrium between human development and preserve the environment has brought huge focus on carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions management. 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.

He said MDXi, a primary provider of colocation and data centre services to organisations across West Africa, is one of such environmentally responsible organisations, and has over the years implemented policies that have significantly reduced its carbon footprint in its facilities.

“In January 2021, MDXi recorded 100% availability of supply from the national grid through the Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC). This excellent availability to record meant the company did not have to run any of our four heavy-duty generating sets, 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,” Adegbiji said in an interview.

He also explained that, “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 $1 million in direct connection of its Lekki Data Centre to the national grid in order to enjoy 100% power availability from the grid.”

Since it launched in 2015, MDXi has operated carrier-neutral facilities and harnessed MainOne’s network footprint not only to interconnect all major network and content providers in the West African sub region, but also enable ISPs and virtual network operators connect to theData Centres to provide services to hosted customers.

The organization said it has a focus on deliberate action and a commitment to doing what is right, even though it said this comes at a high cost. “Obtaining 100% of power supply from the National Grid due to private investment implies the company can reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In addition, even before construction commenced, the organization ensured that the Data Centre was positioned in a location with access to the national grid,” the data company said.

“As a market leader in Data Centre solutions, MDXi ensures that energy efficiency and environmental sustainability is a major aspect of our centres, like the upcoming Lekki 2 and Sagamu Data Centres, and the new Appolonia Data Centre (Accra) which received its Tier III design certifications, and will be ready for commissioning in a couple of weeks,” Adegbiji said.

He said there are ongoing efforts to explore additional green initiatives such as utilizing solar to generate power for the additional MDXi data centre facilities located in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

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 “MDXiLekki” with the sole purpose of developing a hub for regional connectivity while serving as the primary point for traffic aggregation in West Africa. MDXi’sLekki data Centre is currently the largest purpose-built commercial data Centre in West Africa.