A university data center in Nigeria has been damaged following a thunderstorm.

As reported by the 21st Century Chronicle, the Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto's data center was affected by a storm with heavy rain and lightning in the area on Saturday, August 15.

According to the university's director of ICT, Mohammad Rilwanu, two inverters at the data center were damaged by lightning, and the university was forced to shut down network services to prevent further damage.

The inverters have now been repaired, and services were expected to resume on August 18.

Danfodiyo University was established in 1975 and is a public research university, one of 12 founded by the Nigerian government.

The data center is located on the university's main campus and is operated by its ICT directorate. Details about the facility, including its size and capacity, have not been provided. DCD has reached out for further information.

Sokoto is located in northwest Nigeria and is not a notable data center hub, with no facilities listed by DataCenterMap.

Nigeria as a whole does not have a large data center presence, though most facilities are located in and around Lagos.

The Nigerian government is currently seeking private investment in cloud and data center infrastructure in the country. It is hoping to secure an initial $250 million in the next 12 months, eventually seeking up to $750m in an effort to create a regional hub for computing and digital services under its National Digital Cloud Policy.

“Nigeria must move from being primarily a consumer of global cloud infrastructure to becoming a competitive location for the infrastructure, investment, skills and digital services that will define the next phase of the global digital economy,” Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Bosun Tijani said in a statement.

“Our approach is deliberately open and investment-oriented. We want Nigerian and international providers to invest, build capacity, develop talent and serve both the Nigerian market and the wider African continent from Nigeria."