Page 3 - WIOCC - Africa Connected FEB 2021

A message from the CEO
Taking stock and looking ahead
Chris Wood
WIOCC Chief Executive Officer
The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on many businesses and economies worldwide. Fortunately, the global shift to home-based working and learning is driving an immediate need
for improved telecommunication infrastructures. Our business has remained firmly on course despite our entire operation having to move to a ‘working from home’ environment and travel being severely disrupted.
We continue to be one of the leading carriers of international traffic for Africa: by far the largest capacity activator on the EASSy cable and a very significant supplier on the WACS subsea system on the west coast. A critical element in our programme to deploy hyperscale connectivity across the continent is our investment
in terrestrial infrastructure in specific Africa markets, complementing our extensive shareholder and subsea networks. We are completing the deployment of our new 11,000km dark-fibre network in South Africa, providing much-needed additional capacity and extending reach
to support the growing demands of a bandwidth-hungry market. We have also enhanced and extended our network infrastructure in both Nigeria and Zambia to support our clients operating in these countries.
Our focus is and will always be our clients – cloud operators, content providers, fixed and mobile telcos, ISPs and other operators. Our ongoing programme of investment in subsea infrastructure and initiatives to enhance the reach, capacity, diversity and resilience of our terrestrial fibre assets will ensure that we remain exceptionally well-positioned to deliver the hyperscale connectivity solutions they need to grow their business in Africa and beyond. We are currently raising funds to pursue further business expansion to take advantage of the opportunities created by the ever-increasing demand in Africa for online services and applications.
To support our extended infrastructure and the needs of our growing client base, we are progressively increasing our workforce within the Nairobi, South Africa and UK offices.
We also have international staff in other strategic locations with commercial, operations, engineering, programme management and business development capabilities. We are continuing to invest in our people, empowering them to provide excellent client service and build close, partnership-style working relationships.
I look forward to what this year will bring and wish you all success!