Raxio Data Centres raises up to $170m Sustainability-Linked Debt Facility to accelerate digital transformation in Africa

Raxio Data Centres raises up to $170m Sustainability-Linked Debt Facility to accelerate digital transformation in Africa

[Amsterdam] – Raxio, Roha and Meridiam are pleased to announce that they have successfully secured a sustainability-linked debt facility of up to USD 170 million in multiple tranches for Raxio Data Centres, a leading pan-African data centre developer and operator. The financing package includes USD 110 million from Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company. The financing will enable Raxio to progress with its ambitious roll-out strategy of state-of-the-art, highly reliable and efficient Tier III certified, data centre infrastructure across the continent. Raxio’s current portfolio of sites, built or under development, already give Raxio the widest geographic coverage of any data centre operator in Africa.

Proparco is a tier one development finance institution, and EAIF is a leading infrastructure investor; both share a joint objective to contribute to developing digital infrastructure in Africa – supporting digital transformation across the continent. This sustainability-linked financing package, anchored in ESG principles, promotes energy efficiency, responsible water use practices and female empowerment; all of which align with the core values of the lenders, Raxio and its shareholders. The water and energy use efficiency of Raxio’s sites set a benchmark in Africa and Raxio is proud to see these principles reflected in its financing.

Raxio’s current footprint covers seven countries in Africa, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola and Tanzania. Raxio has been backed by investments from Roha and Meridiam and the new funding will be used to accelerate Raxio’s growth in African markets and will support the construction and expansion of existing and new facilities in the region.

Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Data Centres, said: “This is a momentous milestone for Raxio, and we are very excited to have found in Proparco and EAIF the ideal long term partners, with common objectives and values. This substantial additional funding package is a resounding endorsement of what we have achieved so far and the soundness of our expansion strategy, and clearly positions Raxio as a leader in delivering world-class data centre infrastructure to markets across Africa. Raxio is committed to building a digital Africa, and this financing gives us the runway we need to continue executing our strategy.”

Ariane Ducreux, Head of Energy Digital and Infrastructure at Proparco commented, “Data centres, which concentrate data, services and a powerful aspect of service access, are the new hotspots of the digital economy. We believe digital infrastructure can contribute to the reinforcement of social ties and reducing socio-economic inequalities. This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa where the lack of neutral and shared data centres undermines the potential of the local digital services markets. Therefore, we are proud to support Raxio’s first development phase of seven carrier-neutral data centres across Africa, together with long-standing partners like EAIF, Meridiam and Roha. With this sustainability-linked loan to Raxio, we also aim at fostering data centres with exemplary environmental sobriety and security levels.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sumit Kanodia, Investment Director at Ninety One, EAIF’s Fund manager, said, “Data centres in Africa enable the growth of the continent’s digital economy and unlock innovation for digitally native communities and businesses, providing more affordable access to transformative technologies and services. Our partnership with Raxio responds to the urgent demand for affordable internet connectivity in the region and signifies a joint ambition to narrow the digital divide in several high-potential economies by filling a vital funding gap.”

Raxio benefits from the strong commitment of its shareholders, Roha, the investment firm that founded Raxio, and Meridiam.

Brooks Washington, Partner at Roha, said: ” We launched Raxio in 2018 because we saw the significant potential for data centres across Africa. We’re looking forward to Raxio continuing its strong momentum and we are excited to build an African data centre champion.”

“The need for this type of data centre in these countries is clear and Meridiam is proud to be supporting Africa’s digital buildout through Raxio and are excited for what’s to come!”, said Mathieu Peller, Partner at Meridiam.

With this funding, Raxio will continue to deliver private and public sector customers across the African continent best-in-class, reliable, and sustainable data centre solutions. The financing package will support Raxio’s strategy of continuing to build Africa’s digital backbone and support the sustainable growth of Africa’s digital economy.

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About Raxio Data Centres

Raxio Group is one of Africa’s leading carrier-neutral Tier III data centre operators, delivering best-in-class colocation services. Established in 2018, we aim to provide industry-standard, carrier-grade facilities and services that form the foundation for Africa’s digital economy. Following the launch of our first facility in Uganda, Raxio now has a presence in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola. We are constantly expanding our footprint and are on track to build several new facilities over the next two years, establishing a network of interconnected data centres servicing the active and latent demand across the African continent.

For further information, please visit www.raxiogroup.com.

About Roha Group

Roha Group is an investment firm that builds companies in Africa. Roha launches and funds new businesses with large scale potential by leading their development from origination to exit. Roha’s unique approach mitigates risk and delivers top tier returns while creating lasting, sustainable value for the continent. Roha’s portfolio companies have committed investments of over $500 million so far and are active in countries across Africa. Roha is a UNPRI signatory, with offices in Africa, the United States, and Europe.

For further information, please visit www.roha-africa.com

About Meridiam

Meridiam was founded in 2005 by Thierry Déau, with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sector can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communities. Meridiam is an independent investment Benefit Corporation and an asset manager. The firm specializes in the development, financing, and long-term management of sustainable public infrastructure in three core sectors: sustainable mobility, critical public services and innovative low carbon solutions. With offices in Addis Ababa, Amman, Dakar, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Libreville, Luxembourg, New York, Paris, Vienna and Washington, Meridiam currently manages US$20 billion and more than 120 projects to date. Meridiam is certified ISO 9001: 2015, Advanced Sustainability Rating by VigeoEiris (Moody’s), ISO 37001 Anti-Corruption certification by AFNOR and applies a proprietary methodology in relation to ESG and impact based on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For further information, please visit www.meridiam.com

About Proparco

Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement Group, has been working with the private sector for over 45 years for a more just and sustainable world. With an international network of 23 local offices, Proparco works closely with its partners to build sustainable solutions in response to environmental and social challenges in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Proparco benefits from sector-based expertise as well as a wide range of financial solutions tailored to the different stages of business development, notably thanks to its Digital Africa subsidiary, and its Propulse technical assistance offering designed to scale up the impacts and performance of its partners.

Proparco’s new “Acting together for greater impact” Strategy 2023-2027 enables, strengthens and amplifies the different ways in which it works with its partners. To learn more: http://www.proparco.fr/en/strategy.

For more information, go to: http://www.proparco.fr/en and @Proparco LinkedIn

About Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund

The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund provides a variety of debt products to infrastructure projects promoted mainly by private sector businesses in Africa and parts of the Levant. The Fund helps create the infrastructure framework that is essential to sustained economic stability, business confidence, job creation and poverty reduction. It has to date supported over 90 closed infrastructure projects across nine sectors in over 20 African countries. At 30 June 2022 EAIF had a committed loan book portfolio of over US$1.15 billion. EAIF is part of PIDG. EAIF was established and substantially funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. It raises its debt capital from public and private sources, including Allianz, the global insurance and financial services company; Standard Chartered Bank; the African Development Bank; the German development finance institution, KFW and FMO, the Dutch development bank. EAIF is managed by Ninety One. www.eaif.com

For more information, please contact:

Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund media contact:

Emmanuel Balogun | ebalogun@africapractice.com | +44 (0) 758 830 2363