The Katsina State Government signed an agreement with greentech firm Conflow Power Group Limited for the deployment of 50,000 solar-powered smart streetlights known as 'iLamp' units, establishing Africa's first distributed AI data centre in the state. The iLamp units are capable of selling AI compute while also supporting AI-enabled cameras and monitoring systems for public safety, traffic management and infrastructure protection.
The units could also provide public WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity and high-efficiency LED lighting, all powered by solar energy without additional operational cost to the state. The Chief Executive Officer of Conflow Power Group Limited, Edward Fitzpatrick, said the agreement was a defining moment for how the world thinks about AI infrastructure.
Special Adviser on Power and Energy to the Katsina State Government, Dr Hafiz Ahmad, said Katsina had become the premier state in Nigeria for data centre capability, home to the only distributed AI data centre of its kind anywhere on the African continent. He said every lamp installed, every unit of computing power, every naira of revenue was fully auditable.