Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday performed a ground-breaking ceremony of a $250million hyperscale data centre by Kasi Cloud Limited in Lekki Peninsula, saying his administration is deeply committed to the rapid transformation of the Lekki corridor and other industrial hubs in the state.

He said his government is committed to using education and technology, which is the second pillar of the THEMES development agenda, as a tool to create a 21st Century Lagos that the people of the State dream of and talk about.

The Governor made the statement on Tuesday while performing the groundbreaking ceremony of the $250m Kasi Cloud Data Centre at Leisure Land by Theme Park Site along Maiyegun- Lekki Beach Road, Lekki Peninsula II in Lagos.

The Kasi Data Centre, a four-hectares of land, will provide an interconnection and data centre platform for Nigeria to support digital ecosystems and drive internet access to over 200 million people. And as the technology hub of Nigeria and West Africa, Lagos State will host the data centre, which will be the largest in the country, with numerous economic benefits and nurturing the future generations.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said the data centre will create jobs, attract additional investment and deliver high-speed internet access that will be transformational for emerging and existing digital ecosystems.

“On our part as a State Government, we are deeply committed to the rapid transformation of the Lekki corridor, as well as every other industrial hub in the State. We are demonstrating this commitment through policies and interventions designed to improve the business environment, to reform critical government institutions and systems and to unlock new levels of innovative thinking among our people, especially our youth.

“We realise that the people of Lagos are the most formidable assets that we have. They are the ones who will write the narrative of this megacity now and into the future. We must educate and upskill them, to prepare them for the rapidly evolving working environment of the 21st century. We want to use education and technology as a tool to be able to create a 21st Century Lagos that we all dream and talk about,” he said.

Governor Sanwo-Olu while commending Kasi Cloud Limited for building the data centre in Lagos, said what KASI is doing is a testament to the capacity and capability of Nigerians to dream world-class dreams and convert those dreams into reality.

“The economic impact that digital infrastructure improvement has on nation-building cannot be overemphasised. The siting of the new infrastructure in this part of Lagos is also not by accident. This is the fastest-growing corridor of the State, home to several large-scale industrial, manufacturing and logistics investments,” he said.

Speaking at the event, former Minister of Information and Enugu State 2023 gubernatorial aspirant, Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr), commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for positioning Lagos as a pre-eminent destination for investment in Nigeria and indeed the continent of Africa.

He said: “What is happening here today is not an accident at all. And it is on this basis that I want to pay my respect to Mr. Governor and his colleagues in Lagos State for positioning Lagos as a preeminent destination for investment in Nigeria and indeed the continent of Africa. I salute your investment in security. I salute your humility.

“The other reason why I am here today is to draw anointing from you as a gubernatorial aspirant in Enugu State and to also take a few lessons. I know that security is important and I know that even your understanding and knowledge of the economy, the local environment, national and global environment is extremely important. So, in the coming days, I am going to be visiting you just to do some kind of apprenticeship under you to ensure that when I become governor of Enugu by God’s grace, that I can follow your footsteps and do the kind of things we are doing here today.”

In his address, the Founder and CEO of Kasi Cloud Limited, Johnson Agogbua, who said the data centre by his organisation will create jobs opportunity and investment in the community, commended the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration for its commitment to technology and innovation development in Lagos State.