TechInAfrica – Opera Limited (Nasdaq: OPRA), one of the world’s major browser developers and leader in AI-driven digital content, has officially announced the successful installation of their new local servers hosted within the MDXi Lekki Data Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, which is also the largest leading data center in West Africa.

With the installation of the new local servers in Lagos, Opera is improving the online experience of its fast-growing user base in Nigeria. The servers speed up online browsing, making the connection times up to four times faster than before when using Opera mobile applications like the popular Opera Mini browser and the leading news app in Nigeria, Opera News.

“At Opera, we know how important speed is for people’s internet experience,’ said Krystian Zubel, IT Director at Opera. “With the launch of our first local data servers in Nigeria, we’re taking another leap forward in user experience, providing millions of people with a faster browsing and news experience.”

Speeding up the current online experience in Nigeria

According to the recent Worldwide broadband speed league report 2019, presented by Cable, African countries rank among those with the slowest internet connectivity in 2019. In Nigeria, there are more than 110 million internet users with an expected increase to 188 million within the next four years. These numbers represent a major challenge for technology companies who will need to invest more in digital infrastructure to guarantee a high-quality online experience for millions of internet users. With the new local servers, Opera is taking one step further in assisting the growth of the digital ecosystem in the region.

With data servers in the country, Opera users in Nigeria will immediately get a snappier browsing experience. According to the test results, the response time to our servers has significantly improved, with a 4x improvement in the response time for the users with the fastest network conditions. In addition, overall browsing has also become faster with the implementation of intelligent caching mechanisms.

The new data servers are already providing service to Opera users in Nigeria. Their installation has been one of the fastest in Opera’s history thanks to the work of local and international engineers who set up the servers.

Leading the digital transformation

Two years ago, Opera announced an investment of $100M to facilitate growth in the African digital economy, accelerate internet adoption and strengthen the digital internet ecosystem with its partners in the African region.

Since then, Opera has followed its Africa First strategy and accelerated the growth of its user base in the African region. In the Q1-2019 edition of the State of Mobile Web report, Opera revealed that its African user base had grown by 26% over the year, reaching nearly 120 million Opera users in the region. This number includes users of the popular Opera Mini browser, Opera browser, and the standalone news application Opera News—which became the world’s most downloaded news app in the second quarter of 2019. 

This year, Opera has also expanded its product portfolio beyond mobile applications by introducing new innovative online marketing platforms such as Opera Ads, OLeads and OList. With this strategy, Opera plans to bring millions of African businesses to the internet and help them maximize their online visibility to ramp up their sales.

The installation of the new Opera data servers in Nigeria is also part of Opera’s strategy to continue leading the digital transformation of Africa. The company has ambitious plans to expand the presence of its data servers to more African countries and continue enhancing the digital lives of millions of internet users across the continent.