IFC, Proparco and RMB Partner with WIOCC Group to raise over $50 million to invest in digital infrastructure in Africa.
IFC, Proparco and RMB have joined forces with WIOCC Group to raise over $50 million to invest in digital infrastructure within Africa.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco, a development finance agency and a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group have joined forces to finance the West Indian Ocean Cable Company’s (WIOCC) expansion initiative in three African countries to enhance the continent's digital infrastructure and connectivity.
The partnership which seeks to raise over $50 million in funding has raised $41.7 million so far, with $10 million and ZAR 200 million ($11.07 million) coming from IFC, and $20 million from Proparco. According to a statement shared with Bendada.com, WIOCC plans to sign a loan for $10 million in the next few weeks with RMB Corvest, a private equity company for its expansion in Nigeria.
The funding is structured as a sustainability-linked debt, with pricing linked to WIOCCs commitment to improve their energy efficiency and obtain EDGE green building certification for their centres. EDGE is an innovation metric provided by IFC to certify and ensure data centres are resource-efficient with zero carbon emissions.
With this funding, WIOCC plans to expand its core and edge data centres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and South Africa to meet data centre services. It will also grow its fiber networks bridging the digital divide to foster economic growth across Africa.
“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 centre 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,” said Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC Group.
Since its inception in 2007, WIOCC has continually invested in Africa's digital sector, delivering open-access infrastructure to meet the growing demand for reliable connectivity solutions throughout the continent.
