West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) has secured a US$300 million investment from Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Vision International Investment Company, the company announced. The Shareholder Subscription Agreement (SSA) will accelerate WIOCC’s strategy to expand digital infrastructure across Africa.WIOCC’s primary mission includes building and operating open-access critical infrastructure across Africa, reinforcing the digital ecosystems. This investment will enable WIOCC to accelerate data centre deployment and consolidation, expand its terrestrial fibre footprint, and pursue targeted subsea infrastructure investments.Joshua Smythwood, WIOCC group chief strategy and M&A officer, stated that less than 36 per cent of Africa’s population is currently online. This contrasts with a global average of nearly 74 per cent. Smythwood also highlighted that demand for cloud, AI, and digital services in Africa is growing faster than the supporting infrastructure.Smythwood emphasised the need for substantially more hyperscale-ready and high-density data centre capacity, stronger terrestrial and subsea networks, and reliable power infrastructure. This is crucial for Africa to capture more value from the AI economy rather than just consume AI-enabled services developed elsewhere.He also noted that open-access infrastructure is essential for African businesses to choose services and avoid lock-in. Increasing investor confidence and a growing young population, anticipated to account for over a quarter of the world’s population by 2050, are driving digital infrastructure growth in Africa. Smythwood mentioned that investment remains unevenly distributed, and regulatory fragmentation across 54 countries complicates cross-border infrastructure development.
WIOCC secures US$300 million investment for Africa digital infrastructure, ETDatacenters
