Raxio opens data center in Côte d'Ivoire

Data center operator Raxio Group has inaugurated its new data center in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, making it the fifth data center in Africa for the group and the third consecutive launch this year.

Raxio said its presence in the fastest-growing economy in francophone West Africa will drive an appetite for data consumption and local content by digital users.

The Côte d'Ivoire data center, which will be known as CIV1, is the country's first Tier 3 certified carrier-neutral and cloud-neutral facility, accredited by international industry body the Uptime Institute.

The 2,000-square-meter facility is capable of housing up to 800 racks at full capacity and delivering 3MW of IT power to customer equipment.

The Côte d'Ivoire launch also marks Raxio Group's first entry into West Africa.

"As the regional hub for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, Raxio CIV1 is strategically located to serve this economic block, with regulation allowing storage and movement of data by the banking industry and other financial institutions within the territory," the data center operator said.

Raxio Group CEO Robert Mullins said West Africa is a key growth sector for the group's continued expansion.

"Abidjan is the ideal location for organizations and businesses from across the economic region to collocate their mission critical infrastructure in a highly reliable and secure facility. We are proud to contribute a fundamental cornerstone to facilitate Côte d'Ivoire's continued digital growth and cement its hub status in the region," Mullins said in a statement.

Raxio Group CEO Robert Mullins speaking at an event in Uganda in 2021. (Source: Raxio Group)

Situated in the Village of Innovation and Technology (VITIB) approximately 30 kilometers from the city center of Abidjan, Raxio CIV1 is supported by multiple paths for power and fiber connections, and "cutting-edge redundant equipment," which underpin its Tier 3 certification, Raxio said.

The facility is positioned along key fiber routes, delivering colocation and domestic and international connectivity, with six connectivity providers currently supplying fiber to the facility.

CIV1 will also serve as host to the country's Internet Exchange Point (CIVIX) allowing for low-cost interconnection of local and international traffic in a carrier-neutral environment.

"From this location, Raxio CIV1 will be serving customers in Abidjan and in the wider WAEMU region – and across a wide range of sectors – at a time when digital transformation, data and content consumption, and connectivity are all increasing at historic rates," the group said.

Pan-African expansion

Raxio said it continues to see strong momentum behind the rollout of its pan-African data center footprint.

It believes the appetite for data center capacity is growing not just amongst local enterprises and the public sector, but increasingly from some of the world's largest hyperscale cloud service providers, content delivery networks and mobile network operators as they strengthen their networks and market presence on the continent.

Raxio Group launched a data center in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in August 2024, and its Mozambique data center went live in May 2024.

Raxio previously opened data centers in Uganda in 2021 and Ethiopia in 2023. Meanwhile, a facility in Angola is planned to open by the end of 2024, and a data center in Tanzania is also in the pipeline.

Raxio CIV1 was built with sustainability practices including energy-efficient design and environmentally conscious processes.

"Raxio's design and equipment choices are adapted to local environmental and climatic conditions, allowing this facility to reach Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) ratios unrivalled on the African continent," the group claimed.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa