Wingu Africa Secures US$60 Million for Data Center Expansion Across East Africa

Wingu Africa, a leading digital infrastructure company, has secured $60 million in financing from Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to accelerate its expansion of data center facilities across key East African markets including Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. This investment marks a pivotal moment in Africa’s quest for digital sovereignty, underpinning the continent’s drive to build resilient, scalable, and secure cloud infrastructure to meet soaring demand for digital services.

Strengthening Africa’s Digital Backbone: The $60 Million Investment

Rand Merchant Bank, a subsidiary of South Africa’s FirstRand Group and a prominent financier in the African continent, has provided the capital to enable Wingu Africa’s ambitious growth plans. Wingu Africa will deploy this capital infusion to expand existing data centers and develop new facilities, thereby enhancing cloud connectivity and digital services for enterprises, telecom operators, financial institutions, and hyperscale cloud providers.

This latest funding round highlights increasing investor confidence in Africa’s digital economy and reflects the urgent need to build robust, localized digital infrastructure to avoid dependence on external data hubs.

Wingu Africa’s Growing Regional Footprint

Founded in 2012 by Demos Kyriacou, Anthony Voscarides, and Nicholas Lodge, Wingu Africa has quickly established itself as a cornerstone in East Africa’s digital ecosystem. The company currently serves over 40 enterprise clients, spanning diverse sectors including telecommunications, cloud services, finance, and content delivery.

Djibouti: Pioneering Integrated Data Infrastructure

In Djibouti, a strategic hub linking Africa with global internet networks, Wingu Africa recently launched its second data center facility, which notably includes the country’s first integrated cable landing station. This facility enhances network redundancy and high availability, vital for the region’s expanding digital infrastructure.

Djibouti’s geographic position makes it an essential node for undersea fiber optic cables connecting Africa, Europe, and Asia. Wingu’s investment in this area strengthens the country’s role as a digital gateway for East Africa and supports regional initiatives to boost internet access and reliability.

Tanzania: Tripling Capacity in Dar es Salaam

Wingu Africa’s data center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital and economic hub, is undergoing a second-phase expansion. This expansion will triple the existing capacity of the facility and introduce enhanced submarine cable connectivity, improving access for enterprise clients and hyperscalers who rely on fast, secure cloud services.

This development is crucial as Tanzania continues to experience rapid digital adoption across sectors such as mobile banking, e-commerce, and public services. The facility’s expanded capacity aims to support this growth by providing localized, scalable infrastructure.

Ethiopia: Driving Cloud Adoption through ADDIX

In Ethiopia, Wingu operates a Tier III-certified data campus that hosts the ADDIX Internet Exchange, a key digital infrastructure enabling efficient data routing and improved internet performance nationwide.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country, with a burgeoning technology sector and increasing cloud service adoption. Wingu’s infrastructure plays a vital role in reducing latency, lowering data costs, and enhancing content distribution within the country — factors essential for accelerating Ethiopia’s digital transformation.

Beyond Colocation: Expanding Digital Services Portfolio

While Wingu Africa is primarily recognized for its colocation services — where clients rent space, power, and cooling for their servers — the company offers an increasingly diverse range of cloud-based solutions:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Providing scalable compute and storage resources on demand.
  
• Cloud as a Service (CaaS): Delivering managed cloud platforms for application hosting.
  
• Satellite Teleport Capabilities: Offering satellite connectivity solutions to extend reach in remote or underserved areas.
  

These services are critical in bridging the digital divide across East Africa, where inconsistent internet access and limited infrastructure have traditionally hampered digital inclusion.

Supporting Digital Sovereignty and Low-Latency Solutions

A core mission for Wingu Africa is to build the digital backbone of Africa that is neutral, secure, and capable of supporting the continent’s future economic growth.

By establishing localized data centers connected to international submarine cables, Wingu minimizes reliance on foreign data hubs, thereby increasing data sovereignty and security for African nations. This localized approach also significantly reduces latency — a key factor for applications such as fintech, telemedicine, and e-learning that demand real-time responsiveness.

Digital service providers such as Bayobab Africa and Cloudflare have already leveraged Wingu’s infrastructure to deliver low-latency, high-reliability cloud solutions across the continent, demonstrating the strategic importance of Wingu’s network.

The Broader Context: Africa’s Data Center Boom

Wingu Africa’s expansion is part of a wider continental trend as African countries race to establish themselves as regional digital hubs. According to the Africa Data Center Market Report 2024, the African data center market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 10% through the next decade, driven by increasing cloud adoption, mobile internet penetration, and government digital initiatives.

Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt have also witnessed a surge in data center investments, reflecting growing demand for cloud services and content delivery networks (CDNs). However, East Africa’s unique geographic advantages, coupled with investments from players like Wingu Africa, position the region as a vital link between Africa and the global internet infrastructure.

Strategic Importance of Undersea Cable Connectivity

A critical factor underpinning Wingu’s expansion plans is its integration with submarine cable systems that connect Africa to the rest of the world. Submarine cables like the SEACOM, EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System), and Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE) cables are lifelines for internet connectivity on the continent.

Wingu’s facilities are designed to interface directly with these cables, offering enterprise and cloud clients unparalleled bandwidth, reliability, and redundancy. This infrastructure allows East African businesses and governments to access international cloud services and digital content faster and more securely.

Wingu’s Leadership Vision: Digital Independence and Growth

The company’s founders bring extensive experience and vision to this mission. Anthony Voscarides emphasizes that the expansion is about more than just infrastructure — it’s about fostering digital independence and economic opportunity across Africa.

Wingu’s leadership recognizes that developing a localized digital infrastructure ecosystem will:

• Enable African businesses to compete globally
  
• Foster innovation in technology and services
  
• Improve accessibility to cloud computing for SMEs and startups
  
• Strengthen cybersecurity by reducing data exposure to foreign jurisdictions
  

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

While Wingu Africa’s growth trajectory is promising, the journey toward a fully digitalized continent faces several challenges:

• Power Reliability: Ensuring consistent energy supply remains a hurdle in some East African regions, prompting Wingu and others to invest in renewable energy and backup power solutions.
• Regulatory Environment: Harmonizing regulations across countries to facilitate cross-border data flows and investment can accelerate progress.
• Skills Development: Building local technical expertise is vital to support and maintain these sophisticated digital infrastructures.

On the opportunity side, growing mobile internet penetration (expected to reach over 50% by 2026 in many East African countries) and expanding digital financial services present a huge market for Wingu’s infrastructure.

Conclusion: Paving the Way for Africa’s Digital Future

Wingu Africa’s US$60 million capital raise from Rand Merchant Bank underscores a broader continental push to secure digital infrastructure sovereignty and scalability. By expanding its data centers and integrating key submarine cable connectivity, Wingu is positioning East Africa as a critical node in Africa’s digital future.

This investment is more than a financial transaction; it is a bold step towards enabling innovation, driving economic growth, and connecting millions of Africans to the future of cloud-based digital services.

As Africa’s digital ecosystem matures, companies like Wingu Africa are not just service providers — they are foundational enablers of the continent’s socioeconomic transformation.

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photo source: Google

By: Montel Kamau

Serrari Financial Analyst

5th June, 2025