DFC Plans to Invest in WIOCC to Expand Africa's Digital Infrastructure

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 21, the WIOCC Group announced that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) intends to join the African Finance Corporation (AFC) and Saudi Arabia's Vision Invest as a new investor in WIOCC. The funds will be used to expand WIOCC's terrestrial fiber network, submarine cable assets, and data center infrastructure in Africa. DFC's investment is still subject to subsequent procedures, including congressional notification, before it can be formally committed and closed.

WIOCC currently operates in more than 30 African countries, running an open-access, carrier-neutral digital infrastructure platform with assets including submarine cables, terrestrial and metropolitan fiber networks, and more than 40 core and edge data centers. The DFC Board of Directors has approved an equity investment in WIOCC, but officials have not yet separately disclosed the amount of DFC's investment.

This financing follows a major capital injection that WIOCC completed earlier this month. On September 1, AFC and Vision Invest signed shareholder subscription agreements with WIOCC, with the two institutions investing a combined US$300 million to support WIOCC's expansion of open-access digital infrastructure, including terrestrial networks, submarine networks, and data center capacity.

WIOCC's future capital expenditure will focus on three areas: expanding open-access terrestrial fiber coverage across the African continent; accelerating data center deployment and asset integration; and investing in new submarine cable assets and strengthening connectivity between Africa and international markets. With DFC joining, WIOCC's investor base now further spans African, Saudi, and U.S. capital, adding a new source of equity funding for its cross-border digital infrastructure expansion.