In a
landmark move reinforcing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC)
burgeoning role in Africa's digital transformation, Raxio Group has inaugurated
its state-of-the-art data centre in Kinshasa, marking the country’s largest
data centre, with Tier III accreditation by international industry body, the
Uptime Institute.
Known as Raxio DRC1, the cutting-edge facility is backed by a $30
million investment, and represents a pivotal milestone in the nation’s Plan
National du Numérique to drive digital inclusion, foster private sector growth,
and transform public services through digitalisation.
Located in Limete on the southeast of Kinshasa, the two-storey Raxio
Data Centre spans 1,542 square meters. Its modern design can house up to 400
racks and can reliably deliver 1.5MW of IT power to customer equipment. The
24/7 “always-on” facility is ideally located along key fibre routes, delivering
best-in-class colocation and connectivity services. Multiple paths for power
and cooling systems underpin the centre’s Tier III certification, while the
usage of cutting edge components, guarantee unmatched levels of efficiency and
a strong commitment to sustainability principles.
The project was completed in record time since breaking ground on
construction in early 2023, a testament to Raxio’s proven track record of
designing and constructing data centre facilities in Africa, and the support of
government authorities in fast-tracking priority national projects.
“The
inauguration of our Kinshasa data centre marks a significant achievement for
Raxio and a pivotal moment for the DRC's digital landscape,” said Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group.
“DRC is one of Africa’s
largest and fastest-growing markets with an existing latent demand for digital
products and services that is forecast to soar in the coming years. With this
facility, we are providing the critical infrastructure essential to supporting
the digital economy and enhancing connectivity – and we expect to expand our
presence in DRC through additional capacity and new facilities in years to
come. Our investment reflects unwavering confidence in the DRC's immense
potential and our commitment to sustainable digital development across Africa.”
With the widest footprint of any data centre provider on the continent,
Raxio's strategy is to address the significant demand for high-quality data
infrastructure across Africa. Since opening its first data centre in Uganda in
2021, Raxio has expanded this year into Ethiopia and Mozambique. The launch of
the DRC marks the opening of Raxio’s fourth facility this year with 1.5MW being
the group’s largest Day 1 capacity to date.
Pan-African digital backbone
Raxio continues to see strong momentum behind the roll-out of its
pan-African digital backbone. Appetite for data centre capacity is growing not
just amongst local enterprises and the public sector, but increasingly from
some of the world’s largest hyperscale Cloud Service Providers, Content
Delivery Networks and Mobile Network Operators as they strengthen their
networks and market presence on the continent.
The DRC launch aligns with the government's
Plan National du Numerique to make expansive digitalisation a catalyst for
economic growth, competitiveness and social inclusion, while enabling a range
of public and private sector cloud-based digital services. The Provision of
data centres is one of the key pillars of the government plan, improving the
digital landscape through reduced latency for real-time applications and
providing a reliable backbone for mobile and internet connectivity.
“Closing sub-Saharan Africa’s
connectivity gap is no longer a pipe dream – it is happening now and we are
extremely proud to be among the key enablers that are driving digital
inclusion,” said Yannick Sukakumu, General Manager Raxio DRC. “The
commitment and pragmatism of the government has been a key enabling factor in
spurring our project from inception to completion in record time and stands as
an inspiration for the wider region in grasping this incredible opportunity for
a broad-based digital economy expansion. We are looking forward to welcoming
customers into an international-standard data centre environment.”
