(Ecofin Agency) - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD), announced a $41 million funding package for infrastructure company WIOCC. This funding will help WIOCC develop its primary and secondary data centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and South Africa. Additionally, WIOCC plans to continue expanding its terrestrial fiber optic networks.

The financing includes a $10 million loan and another loan of 200 million South African rand ($11 million), both provided by the IFC. Proparco is contributing with a $20 million loan.

This new financing is part of WIOCC's ongoing investment in expanding its digital infrastructure across Africa. Previously, the company secured $30 million from the IFC in September 2022, among other financings. WIOCC also plans to secure an additional $10 million loan from another bank in the coming weeks.

WIOCC aims to create an interconnected open-access digital ecosystem to meet the future demands of its customers across the continent. Through its subsidiary OADC, the company already operates six core data centers and more than 30 edge data centers in South Africa. It also boasts 200,000 km of submarine fiber systems and 75,000 km of terrestrial fiber.

"Truly neutral and open-access data centres are the cornerstone of a diversified digital ecosystem. Local data storage and processing capacity are also vital for the resilience of Africa’s digital network, as recent outages have demonstrated," said Ariane Ducreux, Head of Energy, Digital, and Infrastructure at Proparco.