BY: BUSINESS A.M
Nigeria’s fast rising first private free trade area, the Lagos Free Zone, Lekki, Lagos State, has come under the fibre optic network coverage of MainOne, leading West African connectivity and data centre solutions provider.
The coverage followed the expansion of the company’s fibre optic network infrastructure to zone, the firm said in a statement.
Oluwafisayo Ayodele, who issued the statement on behalf of MainOne, said being the first private free Zone in Nigeria, the Lagos Free Zone aims to be the preferred investment hub in Nigeria with best-in-class infrastructure, facilities and services.
MainOne, the company founded by Funke Opeke, but sold last year to American data infrastructure company, Equinix, for $320 million, said it is leading the deployment of telecom infrastructure to support the vision of the zone, coming on the back of the recent visit of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to commission Dangote’s fertiliser plant, the largest in Africa at the Zone and his commendation of infrastructure already deployed within the axis.
MainOne assured that the businesses located across the Zone will now enjoy direct, reliable and secure network connectivity with access to data centre services, allowing for increased productivity and network speeds matching world-class standards.
Anil Verma, MainOne’s chief technical officer, at the formal launch, assured that, “This partnership with Lagos Free Zone will provide strategic value to forward-thinking businesses who seek to enjoy the ease of doing business.
Ayodele disclosed that organisations at the Zone will experience increased speed, security, and connectivity in The New Frontier with MainOne, and that customers will also enjoy access to local data centres and other local and global service providers through the MainOne data centre with connections directly from the Zone.”
The zone covers an area of 850 hectares and is fully equipped with world-class infrastructure, a single clearance window for ease of doing business, and is uniquely integrated with the Lekki Port, which will allow for access to regional and international markets.
With a focus on the ease of doing business, Lagos Free Zone, MainOne stated, will accommodate over 150 industries, leading to the creation of more than 26,000 jobs, adding that the zone is already home to globally reputable brands such as Kellogg’s, Dano Milk, Colgate, BASF, and Power Oil, among others.
Nikhil Khandelwal, chief technical officer, Lagos Free Zone, said that the partnership with MainOne for the provision of high-speed fibre optic network at LFZ will provide an efficient technological backbone for spearheading our drive towards delivering enhanced ease of doing business to our tenants.
Khandelwal further disclosed that with reliable access to power and broadband networks, LFZ provides a compelling destination to host technology manufacturers and data centre operators.
The firm restated that it recognized the critical role digital infrastructure plays in doing business in a post-COVID world, promising that MainOne would continue to expand its network and data centre offerings to leading organisations within West Africa, providing end-to-end connectivity, colocation and managed services.
