Raxio Data Centres, the leading data centre operator with the widest footprint of carrier-neutral facilities in Africa, has announced the opening of Raxio Mozambique (Raxio MZ1). As the country’s first Tier III Uptime Certified data centre, Raxio MZ1 will be foundational in supporting the country’s growing digital economy and in helping meet the Government’s digital transformation agenda. It is also the latest in a series of data centre launches, as Raxio continues to build a pan-African digital backbone across the continent.
“We are proud to be opening Mozambique’s first Tier III, hyper-scale ready data centre and are excited to be a critical cornerstone in supporting the growth of the country’s evolving digital economy, helping to accelerate the adoption for digital tools and services across industries,” said Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group. “The flagship Raxio MZ1 facility is a hub of connectivity and digital exchange, with eight of the country’s top telecom operators and connectivity providers already signed up. Delivering this exceptional facility is testament of our capabilities and of our commitment to provide our customers in Mozambique with the world-class infrastructure their businesses require.”
Raxio MZ1 is located in Beluluane Industrial Park (MozParks), on the outskirts of Maputo, the Mozambique capital. It meets both primary and disaster recovery needs of its customers, and benefits from the Park’s robust power and connectivity infrastructure, ensuring a stable and highly connected operating environment for the facility. With Maputo situated on the East African coast of the Indian Ocean, Raxio MZ1 is strategically located near three subsea cable landings, including the recent, high capacity 2Africa cable. This offers excellent international connectivity and provides an ideal redundant route for the broader Southern African market.
“With this launch, Mozambique is finally set to benefit from having its own world-class data centre facility and Raxio’s dedicated operational experience to support the country’s continued development in this digital age,” commented Emidio Amadebai, Raxio’s General Manager in Mozambique. “Mozambique’s location positions Raxio MZ1 ideally to accommodate the needs of both local customers and the those in the wider Southern African region.”
Raxio Mozambique is fully equipped with industry-best cooling technology, security standards, AC/DC power compatibility and redundancy in an “always-on” uptime environment. Customers will be able to cross-connect with local and international carriers and other customers in specially designed meet-me rooms. Co-locating in Raxio’s facility allows customers to benefit from a “shared infrastructure” model, and substantially reduce their operational and capital costs while improving application performance and flexibility. Combined with investments in terrestrial infrastructure, Raxio Mozambique will facilitate internet traffic amongst content providers locally, attract regional and international service and content providers, and make the internet experience faster, more resilient, and more affordable for all digital users in the region and Mozambique.
Sustainability built-in
Over 80 percent of Mozambique’s electricity is produced from renewables, one of the highest in Africa. In keeping with Raxio’s commitment to sustainability, a high proportion of Raxio MZ1’s power will come from renewable sources, comprising a combination of hydro-generated grid power and local solar supply.
As with all its data centres, Raxio Mozambique was built with sustainability practices from its energy-efficient design and environmentally conscious processes. The facility is equipped with cutting-edge technologies that not only ensure maximum operational effectiveness but also deliver environmental efficiencies. Raxio’s design and equipment choices are adapted to local environmental and climatic conditions, allowing Raxio’s facility in Mozambique to reach Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) ratios unrivalled on the African continent.
Pan African digital backbone
Raxio continues to see strong momentum behind the roll-out of its pan-African digital backbone. Its Uganda data centre opened in late 2021, followed by Raxio Ethiopia earlier this year. 2024 will see the Mozambique launch quickly followed by launches in Côte d’Ivoire and DRC in Q3 2024, and Angola before the end of the year, bringing the total live facilities to six.
“2024 is a huge year for Raxio and in many ways the culmination of multi-year effort. Our unmatched capability is due to a unique combination of secure financing, in-house technical and project delivery expertise, and the ability to pull together contractors, building teams and so much more,” adds Robert Mullins. “As we continue to deliver on our promise to build a network of interconnected data centres, running world-class infrastructure, across underserved markets in Africa, we are convinced that the continent has an important role to play in the deployment of global AI capabilities as these are rolled out. We are excited to be a part of this future.”