The West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) Group, has received funding from two development finance institutions: the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco, owned by the French Development Agency. According to the statement, this substantial injection will help the digital infrastructure provider accelerate its expansion strategy across three African nations, enhancing digital infrastructure, boosting connectivity, and supporting economic growth on the continent.

The package comprises loans amounting to $10 million and ZAR 200 million from IFC, a World Bank Group member, along with an additional $20 million from Proparco, a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group. WIOCC expects to secure an additional $10 million loan from a yet-to-be-disclosed financial institution by June 2024.

Thanks to this capital injection, the WIOCC Group plans to expand its core and edge data centers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and South Africa, catering to the increasing demand for colocation and other data center services. Open Access Data Centres is currently building 24MW data centers in Nigeria, and previously announced it is investing $500 million in core and edge data centers and would be deploying more than 30 data centers across Africa. Additionally, the company will develop its fiber networks to bridge the digital divide and promote economic growth across Africa.

The financing is structured as a sustainability-linked debt, with pricing contingent on WIOCC’s commitment to enhancing the energy efficiency of its data centers and achieving EDGE green building certification, an innovation of IFC aimed at promoting resource-efficient and zero-carbon buildings.

An elated CEO of WIOCC Group, Chris Wood, said, “We are excited to conclude this next stage of our capital raise, which will enable significant expansion, adding further capacity to our open-access data center operation and extending open-access hyperscale national, international, and metro connectivity across our key markets in Nigeria, southern Africa, the DRC, and Greater East and Central Africa.” He explained that their policy of continual investment in infrastructure aims to create Africa’s first truly open-access interconnected digital ecosystem, ensuring readiness to meet the future demands of their clients’ customers throughout Africa.

Proparco’s Head of Energy, Digital, and Infrastructure, Ariane Ducreux, highlighted the long-term partnership: “The Agence Française de Développement Group has supported WIOCC since its inception in 2007. We are proud to continue this partnership by aiding the expansion of Open Access Data Centres’ activities in Nigeria, South Africa, the DRC, and beyond. Truly neutral and open-access data centers are essential for a diversified digital ecosystem. Local data storage and processing capacity are vital for the resilience of Africa’s digital network. This sustainability-linked financing, along with technical assistance, aims to promote the rollout of energy and water-efficient data centers, tailored to each site’s environment.”

In his comments, Bertrand de la Borde, IFC Global Industry Director of Infrastructure, underscored the longstanding collaboration, noting that their partnership with WIOCC, spanning over 15 years, demonstrates IFC’s commitment to enhancing affordable and reliable digital connectivity in Africa through shared infrastructure. “This new debt facility will help WIOCC realize its vision of an integrated, open-access, core-to-edge cloud ecosystem throughout Africa, crucial for bridging the digital divide,” he said.

Since its establishment in 2007, WIOCC has been pivotal in developing Africa’s digital backbone, providing open-access infrastructure to meet the continent’s growing demand for reliable connectivity solutions. The company’s services span a high-capacity, pan-African terrestrial network, linked with major international subsea cables, open access, carrier-neutral data centers, and managed network and infrastructure services.