For Wole Abu, an IT professional with 14 years’ experience in the telecommunication sector, building the single largest data centre in Africa outside of South Africa will be an adventurous challenge he plans to conquer in 2021.
Abu who is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian’s subsidiary of Liquid Telecom and its new Africa Data Centre (ADC), is embarking on a quest not only to address the growing demand for cloud storage and digital services on the African continent but also boost the continent’s thriving tech start-up ecosystem with high-speed internet and efficient cloud-based services.
To achieve this, Liquid Telecom is expanding its broadband infrastructure across the continent by increasing its fibre network in five new countries including Nigeria and Ethiopia.
This is in addition to the 13 countries it already serves with fast network connection – from Cape Town, through all the Southern, Central, and Eastern African countries, and has now reached Sudan and Egypt.
This new Data Centre in Nigeria once completed will address the growing demand for cloud storage and digital services on the continent, and Abu will be responsible for overseeing the strategic growth of ADC’s operations in this new market.
“When people talk about success, it is typically the GSM companies because of the sterling success of MTN, Airtel, and Glo. Beyond the success of these companies, there are other players: the TowerCos, then the FiberCos, and others,” Abu said at BuisnessDay ‘A National Conversation conference’ last year.
The new CEO will be expected to bring his over 14 years of experience in the telecommunications industry which will be integral as Liquid Telecom continues to expand its fibre network reach on the African Continent.
“With our East to West link going live, it is integral that we start working with businesses in Nigeria to develop the local telecom and technology ecosystem and also establish ourselves as the go to data centre provider,” Mohamed Abdel Bassit, Regional CEO, MEWA, Liquid Telecom said concerning his expectation for the new CEO.
Abu understands the pervasive use of internet globally has increased the importance of the telecommunication sector as a vital enabler of socio-economic development, as a result ensuring citizen’s access to broadband is gradually becoming a public policy priority in many countries.
However, limited network deployment represents one of the major obstacles to making the internet available in rural and geographically isolated areas.
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In Africa, infrastructure shortage is still a major challenge facing the IT sector, over the past five years, mobile network operators (MNOs) have spent about $40 billion in capex investment on 3G and 4G infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa.
At present, 54percent of total mobile connections are based on broadband because of the shift to data which means access to life-enhancing services such as education, health, and finance continues to be a major challenge.
In Nigeria, the systems and structures that makes up theses infrastructure are often taken for granted to the point that state government and government agencies move in with their agents to shut down Base Transceiver Station (BTS) thereby causing disruption to network services and in the process affecting quality of service delivery in areas linked with those masts. This is excluding vandalism and theft by unknown individuals.
Also, Africa’s biggest economy ranks among the bottom 20 countries in the Global Competitive Index, which further explains the need for quality infrastructure as most experts say Nigeria still needs $136billion worth of investments in the infrastructure space.
“In Nigeria, we have been pushing for the critical National Infrastructure Bill to be passed into law so that people do not tamper with our infrastructure. You leave your site and generator on the side of the road and people go there to steal them or de-rig your tower. These issues affect the business environment,” Abu said.
Commenting on his appointment as CEO of Liquid Telecom, Abu said, “Since the launch of the first Africa Data Centre in 2018, I have seen the Data Centre team grow their operations by leaps and bounds to cater to the rapidly developing cloud ecosystem on the African continent.”
He said he’s excited to bring his polyfocal blend of functional skills to the team as the ADC makes it possible for Nigerians to get access to Cloud services at affordable rates and allowing them to meet local data regulatory requirements.
Owned by Econet Global, Liquid Telecom is a leading communications solutions provider across 13 countries primarily in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa that serves mobile operators, carriers, enterprise, media and content companies and retail customers with high-speed, reliable connectivity, hosting and co-location and digital services.
Econet Global is currently constructing a $100 million data centre, ADC Atlantic, which will be the single largest data centre in Africa outside of South Africa.
“I also look forward to showcasing Liquid Telecom’s commitment to Nigeria’s digital transformation journey which is linked to staying true to our belief that every individual has the right to be connected,” he said.
Before joining Liquid Telecom, Abu was the CEO of Pan African Towers Limited (PAT), and before that, he served as the Vice President of Sales at Airtel Nigeria. He has also held several senior management roles in the Human Resources, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, and Marketing departments.
Abu is a member of the Project Management Institute and volunteers regularly for causes that protect families and empowers communities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering with Honours from the University of Benin and an MBA from the Lagos Business School.
Abu has attended several leadership courses in top educational institutions and consistently gives talks and makes presentations in top conferences and seminars globally. Abu is creative, innovative, a visionary and a strategic
Abu has also led his previous company, Pan African Towers, to receive the Nigerian Technology & Innovation Telecom Award (NTITA) as Emerging Tower Company of the Year 2019 and the International Standard Leadership Award by the World Quality Alliance, for the Leading Telecom Service Provider of the Year 2019.
With his continued leadership style, rare enthusiasm and heightened drive to revolutionise the telecom industry in Nigeria, Abu is dedicated to making a significant impact on the society.
