By Florencemary Nwabueze

Telecommunications and cloud infrastructure provider, Telcables, a subsidiary of Angola Cables, has launched locally hosted cloud and artificial intelligence, AI, infrastructure in Nigeria aimed at strengthening data sovereignty, enhancing cybersecurity and supporting the country’s growing digital economy.

The company said the new infrastructure would enable businesses to store and process data within Nigeria, helping organisations comply with emerging data localisation requirements while reducing latency and dependence on overseas cloud platforms.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of Telcables, Fernando Fernandes, said the company had deployed two cloud nodes in Nigeria, located at RAC Centre and another Tier III data centre on the Lagos Mainland, to provide secure and resilient cloud services.

According to him, the initiative is designed to give Nigerian businesses greater control over their data.
“What we are bringing is sovereignty to the country and sovereignty to companies. We want to deliver data protection at different levels by bringing cloud nodes, software solutions and AI closer to the local market,” Fernandes said.

He noted that the investment comes as financial institutions prepare to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive requiring banks and fintech firms to localise transaction data.

Fernandes said Telcables had secured certification from the National Data Protection Commission, NDPC, alongside international certifications including ISO, SOC 1 and SOC 2.

“We did not deploy infrastructure without meeting compliance requirements. We obtained NDPC certification as well as international certifications because we work with global hyperscalers that operate to the highest standards,” he added.

The company also unveiled Go4AI, a GPU marketplace designed to help organisations build, train and host artificial intelligence models locally without exposing sensitive information to public AI platforms.
Pre-sales Engineer, Israel Ogboi, said the platform addresses the shortage of high-performance computing resources available to African AI developers.

“GPUs are scarce globally. We have brought this infrastructure into Nigeria so companies developing AI models can train and host them locally using our platform,” he said.

Ogboi added that the solution would enable organisations to develop private AI assistants while ensuring sensitive corporate and customer information remains within the country.

Chief Digital Officer and Vice President, ICT, Julio Chilela, said Angola Cables’ extensive international network provides resilient connectivity through three submarine cable systems-WACS, SACS and MONET.
He explained that the infrastructure enabled the company to maintain service continuity during the submarine cable disruptions experienced in West Africa in 2024 by rerouting traffic through alternative international routes.

Fernandes said another major advantage of the platform is that services are priced in Naira, shielding customers from foreign exchange volatility.

He added that customers pay only for computing resources consumed, while bandwidth and IP addresses are provided without additional charges.

“Unlike many global providers that charge customers based on traffic usage, our model removes those additional costs,” he said.

The company said the infrastructure will support AI applications across banking, mining, public sector services and cybersecurity, including fraud detection, customer verification, intelligent call centres, mineral exploration and AI-driven threat detection.

Fernandes said all customer data hosted on the platform remains within Nigeria and is not shared with facilities in other countries.

He expressed confidence that adoption of sovereign AI infrastructure would accelerate as more organisations embrace artificial intelligence.

“Nigeria has enormous innovation potential. As adoption grows, local AI infrastructure will strengthen the country’s digital ecosystem and build more resilient networks and systems,” he said.

Telcables said its latest investment reflects its commitment to building digital infrastructure in Africa by Africans while supporting Nigeria’s ambition to become a leading digital economy on the continent.