Raxio Group lays the foundation stone for the construction of Angola’s first independent Tier III state-of-the-art neutral data centre

Luanda, September 21, 2023 – The Raxio Group, one of the leading pan-African data centre operators, yesterday laid the foundation stone for the construction of its state-of-the-art data centre in the district of Cacuaco, on the outskirts of Luanda (“Raxio Angola”). Attending the event was the Administrator of the Urban District of Cacuaco, Adão Pacheco Valentim, representing the municipality of Cacuaco.

Raxio Angola is the first independent and neutral Tier III certified data centre in the country, and thus becomes the latest facility to form part of Raxio’s growing network of data centres. With a presence in seven African countries, Raxio is today the operator with the largest geographical presence on the continent.

Angola’s digital and telecommunications ecosystems have been developing rapidly, with the country already achieving an internet penetration rate of approximately 27%. New connectivity service providers are entering the market and other providers are improving their networks, presence, and services. This new data centre in Angola will provide an opportunity for the country to add to its position as a strategic digital ecosystem for the region, creating a hub for peering and driving regional and international digital traffic.

Scheduled to come online in the second half of 2024, Raxio Angola will initially have a capacity of 3MW, but with the capacity to scale up to 7MW and accommodate more than 1,600 racks. By having a Tier III certified state-of-the-art data centre, Raxio Angola, like Raxio’s other facilities across the continent, will be fully equipped with the best power, cooling and security technology in the industry, supporting AC/DC power compatibility and offering complete redundancy to its customers. Once commissioned, clients will be able to host their mission-critical IT infrastructures in an ideal environment and easily connect with other local and international clients in specially designed meeting rooms. Sustainability is at the forefront of our values and a fundamental part of the design process and operations, making this highly efficient data centre that will set a new standard of performance in the country.

The Administrator of the Urban District of Cacuaco, Adão Pacheco Valentim, and Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group laying the first brick at the groundbreaking of Raxio Angola

The centre benefits from reliable electricity provisioning, proximity to the landing points of new submarine cables, access to local terrestrial fiber connectivity and easy road access. Situated more than 17 kms from Luanda’s CBD, in Cacuaco, Raxio Angola is strategically located to serve our customers’ primary and redundancy needs. Neutrality will allow customers to benefit from freedom of choice and redundancy in data centre connectivity.

This latest Raxio facility in Angola is being developed in collaboration with local and international contractors, carefully selected to meet the company’s tried and tested standards of excellence. The design and equipment selected offer an ideal environment for customers’ mission-critical equipment, always guaranteeing the best energy efficiency and high compliance with our strict ESG metrics.

Robert Mullins, CEO of the Raxio group, said: “Our decision to build Angola’s first carrier-neutral next-generation facility reveals our commitment to a well-defined strategy to provide the country with a vital digital infrastructure. With the arrival of new connectivity solutions and the continued evolution of the digital ecosystem in the region, we will continue to build scalable, hyperscale-ready facilities to meet the growing needs for connectivity, storage and data processing. This is a response to the continuous increase in demand for digital services and the evolution of connectivity solutions in the region. Angola has a very high demand for connectivity and related services. In addition, it is geographically very well positioned to be a strategic connectivity hub for the region, making it an important market for our growing portfolio. As with all our facilities, Raxio Angola is being developed in strict compliance with our ESG standards, generating a positive impact through the direct and indirect creation of hundreds of jobs with the utmost respect for the environment.”

Raxio Angola becomes part of the Raxio Group portfolio, which includes Uganda, the DRC, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. The Group will continue to expand its geographical coverage by expanding into various markets on the African continent and will increase its capacity by building resilient facilities to meet the growing demand for reliable and secure data centre environments in the region.

About Raxio

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