The Cassava Technologies group will use the funds to increase its capacity in South Africa
Cassava Technologies subsidiary Africa Data Centres (ADC) has secured ZAR 2 billion ($109.6 million) funding, arranged by RMB, o expand data centre capacity and meet the growing demand for cloud computing services in South Africa. The operator already has nine data centres in six countries – South Africa, Kenya, Togo, Rwanda, Ghana and Nigeria – and an IT capacity of 54 MW.
“This funding is a significant milestone in the growth of Africa Data Centres,” said Cassava Technologies president and Group CEO Hardy Pemhiwa. “It underscores our commitment to growth and our confidence in the future of the South African data centre market. The additional funding will allow us to support the digital transformation journeys of our customers. Data Centres are key to delivering on our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind”.
The financing will enable Africa Data Centres to accelerate expand its hyperscale data centre capacity by an additional 20 MW. RMB acted as the coordinator, initial mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on the ZAR 2 billion facility.
“The data centre space presents a significant digital infrastructure opportunity, as there is currently a large deficit of supply versus demand. With the exponential growth in demand for data centre capacity in Africa, we are proud to partner with Africa Data Centres as they facilitate digital transformation across the continent,” said RMB head of corporate client group Nana Phiri. “We see this funding as part of RMB’s mandate of financing the development of a sustainable digital economy in South Africa.”
Building the channel
In April Africa Data Centres launched its channel partner programme, ADC Channel to establish colocation and ecosystem partnerships with service providers and even the hyperscalers.
“Our facilities are designed with the needs of hyperscale, wholesale & enterprise clients in mind, catering to their technical, operational and commercial requirements,” said ADC CFO Finhai Munzara. “Whether it’s greenfield projects, built-to-suit facilities, powered shells, dedicated halls, or hybrid colocation, we offer flexible, scalable and sustainable solutions that suit partners of every kind.”
Partners will also enjoy seamless access to data centre experts, continuous commercial and technical support, and regular, complimentary training for their sales and product teams. ADC emphasised that partners face no financial risk, as participation in the channel programme requires no investment and entails no capex for building data centres. The data centre operator has also developed ADC Marketplace for partners to showcase their services and for customers to explore offerings, fostering collaboration and visibility within the African tech community.
Neutral colo facilities will attract the attention of hyperscalers with AWS, Google and most recently Microsoft all announcing big investments in South Africa and the wider African continent. Resilient connectivity has also come into focus after several recent subsea cable failures that impacted many sub-Saharan nations’ nascent cloud services. ADC’s sister company Liquid Intelligent Technologies has already teamed up with Google to build an Africa-Australia cable for example in the quest to boost the continent’s resilience.