By Chinenye Anuforo
WIOCC, a leading African digital infrastructure provider, has secured a substantial funding package totalling over $50 million from a consortium of international institutions to help bridge the digital divide on the continent.
This financial boost will fuel WIOCC’s ambitious expansion plans across three key countries: Nigeria, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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The financing includes loans of $10 million and ZAR 200 million (approximately $11.1 million) from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and $20 million from Proparco, a development finance institution and subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group. WIOCC also expects to sign an additional $10 million loan for its expansion in Nigeria with RMB in the coming weeks.
These funds will be strategically deployed to bolster WIOCC’s existing data centres and fibre optic networks in the target regions. This expansion directly addresses the ever-growing demand for reliable data storage and internet connectivity across Africa. By building a robust “core-to-edge” infrastructure, WIOCC aims to bridge the digital divide – the gap between those who have access to information and communication technologies and those who do not.