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WIOCC Group, Africa’s largest carrier-neutral digital infrastructure operator, has secured $300 million in strategic investment from Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Saudi Arabia’s Vision International Investment Company (Vision Invest).
The deal was formalised through a Shareholder Subscription Agreement signed on 1 September 2026, at the LEAP 2026 Global Technology exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Under the agreement, AFC and Vision Invest will jointly inject $300 million into WIOCC Group.
“The Africa we build must be connected, competitive and equipped to create value from the digital economy, not only consume it. 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. Our investment in WIOCC will expand the open-access digital backbone African businesses and communities need to integrate, innovate and compete globally,” said Samaila Zubairu, President & Chief Executive Officer of AFC.
Founded in 2008, WIOCC Group operates in more than 30 African countries and has built one of the continent’s most extensive open-access digital infrastructure platforms. The company describes itself as Africa’s “carriers’ carrier” and has invested roughly $950 million in digital infrastructure assets.
Its infrastructure spans more than 200,000km of subsea systems, over 115,000km of terrestrial fibre, and data centres across South Africa, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its existing shareholder base includes ten major African telecom operators, including Uganda Telecom, Djibouti Telecom, Telkom Kenya and TelOne, alongside development finance institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and African Capital Alliance.
The company operates on a wholesale-only model that supplies connectivity to telecom operators, cloud providers, content companies and internet service providers rather than serving retail customers directly. The funding will be used to continue build-out of the continent’s fibre, subsea cable and data centre networks.
Chris Wood, Group Chief Executive Officer of WIOCC Group, said, “Africa is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the next phase of global digital growth. As demand for cloud, AI and digital services accelerates, robust and scalable infrastructure will be essential to unlocking the continent’s potential.”
The investment arrives as demand for data, cloud services and artificial intelligence accelerates across the continent. According to the International Telecommunication Union, only 35.7% of Africa’s population was online in 2025, against a global average of 73.6%. With UNCTAD projecting the global AI market to reach $4.8 trillion by 2033, the investment is a measure to ensure Africa isn’t left behind and access to AI capabilities does not remain concentrated among a small number of countries and companies.
“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 added.
