African Capital Alliance Completes Significant Equity Investment in WIOCC to drive long-term growth
African Capital Alliance (ACA), a leading pan-African alternative investment firm focused on managing investments across Africa, is pleased to announce its equity investment, via its CAPE IV fund, into WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company), Africa’s hyperscale infrastructure provider. ACA’s investment forms part of WIOCC’s $200m capital raise. The investment will support WIOCC in its expansion strategy across Africa and accelerate its investment in enhancing the continent’s digital infrastructure.
Established in 2007, WIOCC operates an exceptional hyperscale communications platform that delivers critical services to its wholesale clients across 30 countries in Africa and many more globally. The platform comprises more than 75,000km of terrestrial fibre interconnecting well over 100 Points of Presence (PoPs), and seamlessly integrated with its strategic investments in multiple subsea systems. One of the leading players in Africa’s wholesale connectivity market, WIOCC is responsible for more than 50% of capacity activated on the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a key undersea fibre-optic cable system connecting countries and consumers in Eastern and Southern Africa to the rest of the world.
The current high calibre management team has been in situ since the founding of the company and has had a proven track record of delivering double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth over the last four years towards building a world-class business.
ACA will partner with WIOCC to support the management team in expanding and extending what is Africa’s first, truly hyperscale network infrastructure, accelerating rollout of new digital infrastructure to support its wholesale clients – cloud operators, content providers, fixed and mobile telcos, ISPs and other operators – in taking advantage of the many opportunities Africa has to offer – reaching underserved communities, and providing opportunities to millions of people in those remote areas. WIOCC, with ACA as a partner, is addressing strong market fundamentals with internet penetration expected to expand significantly. ACA’s aim will be to ensure that it continues to support WIOCC’s growth through innovative, sustainable strategies.
Commenting on the announcement, Paul Kokoricha, Partner, African Capital Alliance, said: “WIOCC is a fast-growing wholesale capacity provider in Africa that has positive market fundamentals given the rate at which internet penetration is growing and the desire for more OTT services. Our partnership with them will deliver their vision of being Africa’s leading carriers’ carrier, setting the standard by which performance is measured in the industry, through the delivery of robust and creative solutions for each client, with exceptional support, leading to successful long-term partnerships. We are impressed with the management team, and we are confident our partnership will deliver for all stakeholders.
Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC, added: “We are excited to conclude this stage of our capital raise to support further expansion of our hyperscale infrastructure. Telecommunications is a critical service that is helping to drive financial and digital inclusion across Africa, both connecting people to the financial system and digitalizing businesses. We have made significant progress over the last few years and built a solid foundation from which to grow. The inward investment and partnership with ACA will help us in enabling businesses and consumers in Africa to participate in and benefit from digital economy. ACA’s track record and partnership mentality will be a welcome addition to WIOCC, and we very much look forward to working with them for long-term sustainable growth.”
Ashraf Deenmahomed Speaks at the CISI Wealth Summit
A global network of professionals working in wealth, investment management, and financial services came together for the CISI’s Global Wealth Summit 2021, a three-event series on November 16, 2021. The summit, which was hosted, virtually attracted eminent speakers from this sector, including some of the most well-known thought leaders in the world.
Ashraf Deenmahomed, COO of African Capital Alliance; Ononuju Irukwu, Chartered MCSI, MCBI, HCIB, Head of Private Banking, First Bank of Nigeria; Erica Bruce, President of the South African Institute of Stockbrokers, and Paul Njoki, CEO of Standard Chartered Investment Services engaged in an insightful panel discussion to explore the African business ecosystems, its divergence, and ease of doing business across the different regions.
Ashraf highlighted many opportunities to explore in the energy sector- as everyone is transitioning to renewable energy, and energy infrastructure is expected to boom shortly. He explained that African countries could take advantage of the diverse energy infrastructural prospects through high-level government commitments like subsidies.
In his closing statement, he remarked that everything in Africa is an opportunity. He further said that in relation to more developed continents, Africa adapts easier to innovation and new elements. However, there is a gap between the poor and uneducated, which, when closed, would result in lots of competition as Africans are both talented and passionate.