Africa’s largest data-center firm plans R1bn investment

Teraco Data Environments  plans to invest about R1 billion ($73 million) as Africa’s largest data-center operator expands infrastructure to meet rising demand.

The closely-held business will have spent R4.5 billion on building data-services centres in South Africa when the current investment cycle ends in 2019, Chief Financial Officer Jan Hnizdo said in an interview Tuesday. Funding has come from a debt facility provided by Barclays Africa Group, also known as Absa, which is lending as much as R1.8 billion.

Teraco is investing to meet higher demand for data services in Africa as internet access improves and businesses adopt cloud-based technology. Internet giants such as Netflix and Facebook are seeking to reach more remote parts of the continent, while Amazon.com’s Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure need data storage.

Teraco’s operations in Johannesburg are used by more than 200 African telecommunications providers and are able to provide 12 000 interconnections.