A major new announcement from pan-African data centre developer and operator Raxio is a useful reminder of the continuing acceleration of data centre development across Africa.
In fact Raxio and Meridiam, a global developer and asset and fund manager specialising in sustainable infrastructure and energy transition projects, have announced a partnership to deploy a network of data centres across the African continent.
Under this agreement, Meridiam will invest $48 million to support the continued deployment of data centres in Africa, where both Raxio and Meridiam already have a strong local presence. Meridiam’s investment is made alongside Raxio’s founding equity partner Roha Group, which established Raxio in 2018 and has been funding the company since inception.
Raxio says its data centres will facilitate internet traffic to and from content providers locally and make the internet experience faster, more resilient and more affordable for all digital users.
It adds that these data centres will also support the growth of the African IT sector and be a catalyst for highly skilled job creation in all the planned countries (which have not yet been revealed).
To improve latency and connectivity for businesses, Raxio works with local, regional, and international connectivity providers to share ducts and ensure its sites are located along major fibre routes, ensuring its facilities are true connectivity hubs in the local markets. In addition, from the design phase, equipment choices are adapted to the local environmental and climatic conditions with the aim of continuously reducing energy consumption.
Raxio is also actively working on connecting its facilities to local renewable generation capabilities such as solar power, in addition to the hydropower sources it is currently using.
By building its network of data centres with a focus on environmental sustainability and with the objective of driving technological advancement in the region, Raxio says it delivers impact across a wide range of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
