Investment

WIOCC bags US$300m investment from AFC and Vision Invest

WIOCC bags US$300m investment from AFC and Vision Invest

African digital infrastructure provider WIOCC Group announced on Tuesday that Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Saudi Arabian infrastructure investment and development firm Vision Invest will invest a combined US$300 million in the company.

AFC and Vision Invest signed a shareholder subscription agreement (SSA) with WIOCC on the sidelines of the LEAP 2026 event in Riyadh, joining a long list of financial backers in the company.

Other WIOCC shareholders include Uganda Telecom, Dalkom Somalia, Djibouti Telecom, Mozambique Telecom (TMcel), Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel), Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet), Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), Onatel, TelOne and Telkom Kenya.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and African Capital Alliance (ACA) have also contributed to WIOCC’s development of its pan-African open-access digital infrastructure platform, which now operates in over 30 countries across Africa.

WIOCC’s ability to enable customers to access new markets and deliver reliable digital services at scale is essential to unlocking Africa’s potential as demand for cloud, AI and digital services accelerates, said WIOCC Group CEO Chris Wood.

“This investment enables WIOCC to execute its long-term growth strategy by accelerating data centre deployment and consolidation, expanding the continent’s open-access terrestrial fibre footprint and investing strategically in new subsea assets, strengthening Africa’s digital infrastructure platform and enhancing connectivity between the continent and key international markets,” Wood said in a statement.

“The Africa we build must be connected, competitive and equipped to create value from the digital economy, not only consume it,” said AFC president and CEO Samaila Zubairu about its investment. “Just as transport corridors enable trade and energy networks power industry, fibre, data centres and subsea cables are now essential infrastructure for growth, innovation and AI.”

Vision Invest president and CEO Omar N. Al-Midani added that with Africa’s population expected to account for more than 25% of the global population by 2050, “demand for digital services in Africa will continue to rise, necessitating impactful investments in connectivity and digital ecosystems to unlock new opportunities for innovation, economic diversification and sustainable growth as well as opportunities for businesses, innovators and communities across Africa.”

According to the latest figures from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), only 35.7% of Africa's population was using the internet in 2025, compared with a global average of 73.6%, highlighting the scale of the continent's digital infrastructure needs and growth potential.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projects the global AI market will reach US $4.8 trillion by 2033, while warning that access to AI capabilities and digital infrastructure remains concentrated in a limited number of countries and companies.



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