West African data center operator, Rack Centre, has appointed Lars Johannisson as its new Chief Executive Officer. Johannisson replaces Dr. Ayotunde Coker, who moved to lead the Open Access Data Center team eighteen months ago.
Mr. Johannisson, who has a strong background in transformative industries, will officially start in his new role in January 2024.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Rack Centre, Jasper Lankhorst, expressed excitement about Lars joining the leadership team due to his extensive experience and deep industry knowledge.
He believes that Lars’s extensive experience and strategic leadership will drive Rack Centre to new levels of success and the company’s position as a top data center provider.
Johannisson, in his new role as CEO, emphasized Rack Centre’s market leadership and its status as a leading Carrier and Cloud neutral Tier-III Data center in Nigeria.
He stated his dedication to supporting the growth of the digital ecosystem in Nigeria and is excited to be involved in a team that is focused on launching a new hyperscale-ready, 12MW data center facility in Lagos by 2024.
Johannisson has a wealth of knowledge in Telecom, IT Delivery, Managed Services, and Digital skilling. He has been leading organizations in transformative industries in Africa for the past 14 years and has completed significant B2B projects in over 30 Sub-Saharan countries.
He obtained an MBA in General Management/Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and also completed the Stanford University Executive Program on “Design, Innovation, and Business Transformation.”
He has been actively involved in discussions on “Digital and Economic Inclusion” in Sub-Saharan Africa and has supported initiatives for economic inclusion by partnering with major CSV partners to hire and train youth in IT.
Before joining Rack Centre, Lars Johannisson served as the CEO of Teleperformance in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he led the world’s leading company in digital CX and BPO in the group’s emerging market. He has also held positions at Ericsson, SolarNow, and the YNV Group.
Rack Centre has a strong network that consists of more than 64 telecommunication carriers, Internet Service Providers, global Tier 1 networks, and pan-Africa international carriers. They recently achieved a major accomplishment by becoming the first data center in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to be certified by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) EDGE.
This certification recognizes Rack Centre as the first Green Certified Data Center in Africa, reinforcing its reputation as the most connected facility in West Africa based on its Peering DB ranking.
