MEMBER NEWS || African Capital Alliance Completes Significant Equity Investment in WIOCC to drive Long-Term Growth
Mauritius: 24, November 2021 – African Capital Alliance (ACA), a leading pan-African alternative investment firm focused on managing investments across Africa, is pleased to announce its equity investment, via its CAPE IV fund, into WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company), Africa’s hyperscale infrastructure provider. ACA’s investment forms part of WIOCC’s $200m capital raise. The investment will support WIOCC in its expansion strategy across Africa and accelerate its investment in enhancing the continent’s digital infrastructure.
Established in 2007, WIOCC operates an exceptional hyperscale communications platform that delivers critical services to its wholesale clients across 30 countries in Africa and many more globally. The platform comprises more than 75,000km of terrestrial fibre interconnecting well over 100 Points of Presence (PoPs), and seamlessly integrated with its strategic investments in multiple subsea systems. One of the leading players in Africa’s wholesale connectivity market, WIOCC is responsible for more than 50% of capacity activated on the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a key undersea fibre-optic cable system connecting countries and consumers in Eastern and Southern Africa to the rest of the world.
The current high calibre management team has been in situ since the founding of the company and has had a proven track record of delivering double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth over the last four years towards building a world-class business.
ACA will partner with WIOCC to support the management team in expanding and extending what is Africa’s first, truly hyperscale network infrastructure, accelerating rollout of new digital infrastructure to support its wholesale clients – cloud operators, content providers, fixed and mobile telcos, ISPs and other operators – in taking advantage of the many opportunities Africa has to offer – reaching underserved communities, and providing opportunities to millions of people in those remote areas. WIOCC, with ACA as a partner, is addressing strong market fundamentals with internet penetration expected to expand significantly. ACA’s aim will be to ensure that it continues to support WIOCC’s growth through innovative, sustainable strategies.
Commenting on the announcement, Paul Kokoricha, Partner, African Capital Alliance, said:
“WIOCC is a fast-growing wholesale capacity provider in Africa that has positive market fundamentals given the rate at which internet penetration is growing and the desire for more OTT services. Our partnership with them will deliver their vision of being Africa’s leading carriers’ carrier, setting the standard by which performance is measured in the industry, through the delivery of robust and creative solutions for each client, with exceptional support, leading to successful long-term partnerships. We are impressed with the management team, and we are confident our partnership will deliver for all stakeholders.”
Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC, added:
“We are excited to conclude this stage of our capital raise to support further expansion of our hyperscale infrastructure. Telecommunications is a critical service that is helping to drive financial and digital inclusion across Africa, both connecting people to the financial system and digitalizing businesses. We have made significant progress over the last few years and built a solid foundation from which to grow. The inward investment and partnership with ACA will help us in enabling businesses and consumers in Africa to participate in and benefit from digital economy. ACA’s track record and partnership mentality will be a welcome addition to WIOCC, and we very much look forward to working with them for long-term sustainable growth.”
About African Capital Alliance
African Capital Alliance (ACA) is a leading African-focused investment firm sponsoring and managing private equity and real estate funds in sub-Saharan Africa. The firm has, to date, raised over US$1.2 billion in capital commitments across several funds.
Established in 1997, with the belief that private sector growth can be a catalyst for African development and economic growth, ACA has since grown to be one of the most experienced alternative investment firms in the region, with more than 51 investments across a number of high-growth sectors and industries.
ACA’s investment funds have a longstanding commitment to generating sustainable value alongside commercial performance. The firm’s portfolio companies support over 22,000 fulltime jobs, of which 40% are women. In addition to this, ACA’s investments have created over 6,000 direct jobs in the firm’s portfolio companies.
ACA aligns its investments to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 5 – gender equality, SDG 7 – affordable and clean energy, and SDG 8 – decent work and economic growth.
For more information visit ACA’s website or LinkedIn