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Since 1997: the 21CTL story in five eras

A history of 21st Century Technologies built around five eras instead of a list of yearly milestones, with each statement attributed to the kind of source that supports it.

21st Century Technologies2 min read

21st Century Technologies Limited was founded in 1997. Nearly three decades later, its story is usually told as a sequence of dates. This piece tells it as five eras instead, because the evidence for each era is different and the dates alone hide that.

1997–2007: Foundation

The company was founded in 1997.

Wale Ajisebutu has said that 21CTL completed its first data-centre project in 2004. That is his account of a company milestone. It is recorded here as his statement, and it is not a claim about being first in the country.

2008–2016: Connectivity and infrastructure

In December 2008 Ericsson announced that it had signed a contract with 21CTL to supply, build and system-integrate a residential GPON fibre network in Nigeria. Ericsson said deployment to the first 10,000 homes was scheduled to begin in January 2009. That was a plan at the time of the announcement; this article does not report how many homes were ultimately connected.

Industry reporting in 2015 listed 21CTL among the established data-centre operators in Nigeria.

2017–2021: Platforms and diversification

  • 2017: 21CTL joined the VMware Cloud Provider programme in connection with its SMART Digital Platform public-cloud offering.
  • 2018: 21CTL and Schneider Electric were reported to be working together on data-centre infrastructure.
  • 2018: 21CTL achieved the Multi-Tier Cloud Security (MTCS) standard, as reported.
  • 2020: 21CTL announced a digital-services partnership with Centili.

2022–2024: DigitalHub and people

In 2022 21CTL and Siemens Energy agreed terms involving two 10MW SGT-400 gas-turbine power plants associated with the Lekki and Ikeja data-centre sites. In the same year DatacenterDynamics reported that Lekki Phase 1 was available and that a 36MW campus at Ikeja was planned. The companion article on the data-centre journey sets these figures out with their dates.

In January 2023 the Digital Expert Academy was officially opened, and in 2023 21CTL took part in an Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer initiative. On 24 January 2024 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took part in the ribbon cutting for American Corner Lekki, hosted at 21CTL.

2025–2026: Open innovation, sovereign cloud and AI

In 2025 Epicenter, in Stockholm, publicly described signing a co-creation and open-innovation agreement with 21CTL. In June 2026 21CTL and China Mobile International announced a strategic partnership focused on localised cloud and AI-ready digital infrastructure in Nigeria.

Sources and attribution

This article draws on the sources below. Statements made by Wale Ajisebutu or by the company are attributed in the text and are not presented as independently established.

  • Company records and Uptime Institute client recordFounding year (1997)
  • EricssonAnnouncement, December 2008
  • Independent industry reporting2015 data-centre operators; 2018 MTCS; 2020 partnership; 2022 DatacenterDynamics
  • U.S. Department of StateArchived record, 24 January 2024
  • Epicenter StockholmPublic description, 2025
  • Wale AjisebutuPublic statements and interviews (attributed)

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