West Africa is about to get its "biggest" Tier III data center with MainOne announcing it is now 70% finished on a 3,500 sq m facility that could provide 600 rack spaces and redundant power supplies up to 6MVA.

MainOne’s connectivity platform includes metro and international fiber, an internet backbone and interconnection with all the major networks in Nigeria.

Main One’s CEO Funke Opeke said it is being constructed in response to demand for managed computing and network services in West Africa.

“Access to bundled data center services and connectivity solutions from a trusted provider means organizations save the capital costs that would have been needed to build and maintain dedicated data center facilities,” Opeke said.

The facility is designed to meet rigorous availability standards and offers a highly secure and reliable purpose built alternative with multiple layers of redundancy.

The US$40m facility was originally planned to open in Q3 this year.

Opeke has said Africa is home to seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world.

However, according to the report Data Center Risk Index 2013 by analysis company Cushman and Wakefield, the region still has major challenges.

“Data Center operators are running out of space and power in Africa due to the massive increase in data usage,” the report said.

“While the international bandwidth availability offered by new submarine cables is improving, the cost and availability of power and lack of skilled staff remains a major issue, with local companies and operators investing in new measures to reduce energy use and waste”.