January 28, 2021: wingu.africa group limited (“wingu”), the pan East African data center
operator, and WebSprix, Ethiopia’s Number One private Internet Service Provider (ISP), are
pleased to announce a significant minority investment by WebSprix in the local wingu
business.
Mr Anthony Voscarides, wingu Co-Founder and CEO, explained “our two companies have a
strong complementary focus on “Shrinking the Digital Divide”, this is the term used to
describe the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the internet, and
those who do not.”
The WebSprix investment comes hot on the heels of wingu breaking ground last week on
the first multi-million-dollar hyperscale data centre in Ethiopia and WebSprix’
announcement in December that it’s become the first company globally to the first to Cisco
8000, a Routed Optical Networking Solution to power its high-speed broadband service
expansion.
Fast, reliable and secure internet requires good connectivity, ideally through fiber and
secure storage of data close to the user. With the planned investment in several modern
hyperscale data centers by wingu, users, both individuals and companies, will be able to
store their data locally avoiding long delays for transmission and providing comfort that the
data is securely stored in the country. This fits perfectly with the planned rollout by
WebSprix of a national network of high-speed fiber.
As all fibers of business and personal lives increasingly depend on connectivity and data,
including wider adoption of the “Cloud” to hold information, more data centers will be
required and wingu intends to make further investment over the coming years.
The two companies are working closely together on their expansion plans, to support the
development of the critical ICT infrastructure needed in Ethiopia to meet the needs of the
population and enable strong economic growth and job creation.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr Dawit Birhanu, WebSprix Co-Founder and CEO, said “I
am extremely pleased to partner with wingu, their international expertise and experience in
data centers is a welcome benefit to our country and we will not only use the data centers
for our own business, to give even better service to our customers, but also expect a lot of
interest in accessing this vital infrastructure from businesses, large and small.”
