By JULIUS MBALUTO
In a landmark move reinforcing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) burgeoning role in Africa's digital transformation, Raxio Group today 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.”
Raxio Group is Africa’s leading carrier-neutral Tier III data centre operator. We are dedicated to delivering world-class co-location and connectivity services with a commitment to supporting Africa's digital transformation through the provision of state-of-the-art efficient, reliable and sustainable data infrastructure solutions that support and catalyse economic growth and digital inclusion across the continent. Raxio Group now has operational facilities in Uganda, Ethiopia Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and will soon be operational in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Angola. We are constantly expanding our footprint and are on track to build several new facilities over the coming years, establishing a network of interconnected data centres servicing the active and latent demand across the African continent.
