Katsina signs deal for 50,000 solar AI streetlights

Conflow Power Group has signed an agreement with the Government of Katsina State in Nigeria to install 50,000 solar-powered iLamp streetlights, making Katsina the first jurisdiction in Africa to host distributed AI compute infrastructure.

Working with its Nigerian partner, Mora Energy, Conflow will deploy the units across the state, combining street lighting with computing infrastructure built into each lamp.

Each iLamp is designed as a solar-powered streetlight with embedded AI compute, and can also support public WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity and LED lighting. Units can also be configured with AI-enabled cameras and monitoring systems, subject to local regulation and data governance rules.

The agreement follows a public-private partnership review involving several parts of the Katsina State government. Conflow said ministers examined issues including land use and planning, highway regulation, data protection, cyber security and public safety before the project was approved.

According to Conflow, a full deployment of 50,000 units would generate 13.75 PetaOPS of compute capacity across a distributed network. The system would run entirely on solar power, use no electricity from the national grid and require no water cooling.

The company is presenting the model as an alternative to conventional data centres, which have come under scrutiny in some markets for their electricity and water demands. Instead of concentrating compute in a single facility, the network is distributed across streetlight infrastructure.

Factory plans

Edward Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Conflow Power Group, said: "This agreement is a defining moment for how the world thinks about AI infrastructure, and we are proud that Katsina is the first Nigerian state to complete this process with us. Every ministry asked the right questions and satisfied itself on land use, highway regulation, data protection and security before writing to the Governor.

"By contrast with traditional data centre models, which typically require 300MW of grid power, millions of litres of cooling water and years of construction, Katsina's 13.75 PetaOPS arrives on an iLamp post powered by the sun, operational from day one. As the first to cross the line, CPG will locate its first factory in Katsina and create Nigeria's first Green Utility."

The planned factory in Katsina would be the company's first manufacturing site, Fitzpatrick said. Conflow also described the project as part of a broader push to expand across Africa.

Mora Energy is Conflow Power Group's exclusive deployment partner in Nigeria. Over the past five months, executives from both companies have also held talks with seven Nigerian state governments, as well as universities, private companies and religious campuses, over further iLamp installations.

Stanley Chuka-Umeora, founder of Mora Energy, said: "The groundwork to get here was extensive, but now the real work begins. We will install a state-of-the-art streetlight network that makes our streets safer, brings AI into local communities and positions Nigeria as a major player in global AI compute. We are proud of our whole team and look forward to what comes next."

Wider pipeline

The Katsina agreement is one part of a larger pipeline under negotiation in Nigeria. Conflow said that if all current talks result in agreements, the wider programme would cover more than 300,000 iLamp units across federal, state and institutional sites.

The company is also in discussions over a possible deployment along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. It described the Katsina transaction as a step towards a broader national rollout, although no further agreements have yet been announced.

For Katsina State, the scheme goes beyond a standard streetlighting upgrade. Conflow said the network is intended to support a broader "smart state" model, in which infrastructure installed across the state could be used for lighting, communications and distributed computing.

The project also reflects growing interest among governments and infrastructure groups in edge computing models that place processing capacity closer to where data is generated. In this case, the compute element sits on thousands of individual poles rather than in a centralised data centre.

Fitzpatrick said the approval process in Katsina could serve as an example for similar projects elsewhere in the country. "This is a time-consuming process, but one that is essential to good governance, public accountability and the long-term success of any partnership involving public infrastructure and citizen data. CPG commends the Government of Katsina State for the speed, rigour, professionalism and diligence with which it has undertaken these tasks.

"The Katsina team has set a benchmark for structured, transparent engagement that CPG hopes will serve as a model for other jurisdictions."

Dr Hafiz Ibrahim Ahmad, Special Adviser on Power and Energy, Katsina State, said: "Today, Katsina becomes 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."

"Every lamp installed, every unit of computing power, every naira of revenue is fully auditable. For the people of Katsina, the benefits are transformational. This means safer streets, real-time crime and terrorism prevention, free public internet and a revenue stream that flows back into the state. We are more ready than ever to accommodate anyone coming to Katsina to invest in our great state.," added Ahmad.