| Actis, a London-based private equity company, is going all-in on the African cloud business.
The firm has acquired a majority stake in Rack Centre, a Nigerian cloud and data centre company. The company provides cloud services to a number of companies including MTN, Orange and Airtel. The new investment will help Rack Centre double its capabilities and aid its expansion across West Africa.
The acquisition is part of Actis larger plans for Africa. The continent is underserved in terms of cloud services despite high demand and a growing number of its internet population. This represents an opportunity. The UK firm plans to invest $250 million over the next three years in the data centres based on the continent.
By developing cloud infrastructure and locating them on the continent, it improves the connection speed and helps businesses like banks remain compliant with data storage regulation.
Actis is not the only company targeting Africa’s cloud and connectivity markets. MainOne is leading the pack in the Nigerian market with its data centres and connectivity infrastructure. Foreign companies like Amazon and Microsoft have developed data centres South Africa, their first forays into cloud computing on the continent. US company, Berkshire Partners acquired a stake Teraco Data Environments, a leading South African cloud company.
African telecom infrastructure companies have also received significant investor interest as the continent’s connectivity industry booms. Helios Towers raised $364 million when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2019. IHS Towers is also planning a multibillion-dollar IPO this year. Eaton Towers, another African telco infrastructure company was acquired for $1.85 billion last year. |
