Investors update: April 20 2023 - Raxio secures $170m to build data centers in Africa

Raxio secures $170m to build data centers in Africa

Highlights

• Raxio, Roha, and Meridiam have secured a sustainability-linked debt facility of up to $170 million in multiple tranches for Raxio Data Centres, a leading pan-African data center developer, and operator.
• The financing package includes $110 million from Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company. 
• The financing will enable Raxio to progress with its ambitious roll-out strategy of state-of-the-art, reliable, and efficient Tier III certified, data center infrastructure across the continent. 

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

Africa’s cloud computing and data center market is undeniably untapped. The continent still grapples with the lack of continent-wide digital infrastructure crucial for a digitally included region. Significant investments are being poured by operators into the space with the hope of bridging this gap while tapping into the market revenue potential. The Africa data center market was valued at $2 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $5 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 15%.

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HRLeverage expands into seven African countries

Highlights

• HRLeverage, a provider of technology-driven outsourcing and Professional Employer Organization (PEO) solutions, has announced its expansion into Kenya and seven other African countries, including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Senegal, Nigeria, and Zambia.
• Since its establishment in Lagos in 2014, HRLeverage claims to have provided a comprehensive range of services to help businesses expand into Africa and attract top talent. 
• The company offers various solutions, including outsourcing, recruitment, HR advisory, workforce management, and Professional Employer Organization (PEO) services.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

In Africa, startups digitizing the administrative stack for enterprise customers, such as Workpay, FaidiHR, SeamlessHR, Bento Africa, and Zuberi have a big market opportunity considering the growing appetite for enterprise software solutions among medium-to-large organizations on the continent. The Middle East and Africa’s cloud computing industry is expected to grow to $31.4 billion by 2026, from $14.2 billion in 2021, mainly driven by private sector funding and appetite for digital solutions.

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Senegal’s logistics startup Chargel raises $2.5m seed

Highlights

• Chargel, a Senegalese startup that matches shippers with transporters, digitizing processes that were previously largely offline, has raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Logos Ventures. 
• Ventures Platform, Foundation Botnar, DFS Labs, and Seedstars also participated in the round which also included $500,000 debt and the $750,000 it raised last year.
• The startup counts some of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk and Grimaldi, among its earliest clients. In its next growth phase, it is opening up its platform to more clients. 

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Across Africa, up to 85% of the volume of goods imported and exported is carried through established legacy partnerships between shippers and carriers and relies on road freight transport, which still runs in manual and inefficient ways. Many startups are now offering tools to solve the key challenges of the industry, and this comes at a time when freight demand within the continent is expected to grow 28% by the close of the decade as intra-regional commerce flourishes, driven by AfCFTA, the single largest unrestricted trade region in the world. This growth is set to further grow the demand for trucking services.