Wingu Africa now targets Tanzania as region’s digital hub

This assessment comes from regional data centre operator Wingu Africa, which has been expanding its footprint in East Africa, including Tanzania, Djibouti and Ethiopia. The company argues that while the foundations for a digital hub are in place, the transition from potential to full regional functionality remains incomplete.

In an interview with The Citizen, Wingu Africa’s deputy chief executive officer and co-founder Demos Kyriacou said Tanzania holds a strong strategic advantage due to its geography, connectivity assets and evolving policy framework. “The fundamentals are in place,” he said. “Tanzania has the geographic advantage and a supportive policy environment, particularly through investments like the National ICT Broadband Backbone.”

The National ICT Broadband Backbone has over the years extended fibre connectivity across the country and into neighbouring landlocked states. It has been central to reducing wholesale bandwidth costs and improving national coverage. Tanzania is also linked to multiple international submarine cable systems, including the SEACOM submarine cable, EASSy submarine cable and the expanding 2Africa submarine cable, which together have significantly increased internet capacity along the East African coast. However, Mr Kyriacou cautioned that international connectivity gains are not yet matched by internal distribution capacity.

“The challenge now is ensuring that connectivity within the country and across borders matches that international capacity. Without that, Tanzania cannot fully function as a regional hub,” he said.

His remarks reflect a broader industry concern: that while submarine cables land in Dar es Salaam and provide abundant international bandwidth, last-mile connectivity and inland network efficiency remain uneven, particularly outside major urban centres.

Strategic expansion in Dar

Wingu Africa has positioned Dar es Salaam as the anchor of its East African operations. The company recently expanded its flagship data centre facility in the city, increasing both capacity and power availability in response to rising demand from enterprises, telecom operators and government institutions.

Mr Kyriacou said the investment reflects a long-term planning approach rather than reactive expansion.

“We invest ahead of demand,” he said. “Our model is modular, meaning we can scale infrastructure in phases as the market grows, ensuring that capacity is always available when needed.”

The company operates carrier-neutral data centres, allowing clients to connect to multiple telecom providers rather than relying on a single network. This model is increasingly common in global data infrastructure markets.

According to Mr Kyriacou, carrier neutrality improves resilience and reduces operational inefficiencies.

“Clients are free to choose the networks that best suit their needs. That makes the entire ecosystem more competitive and efficient,” he said.

The facility also hosts the Tanzania Internet Exchange (TIX), which helps keep domestic internet traffic within the country, reducing latency and international bandwidth costs.

Early-stage adoption

Despite infrastructure progress, adoption of outsourced data centre services in Tanzania remains at an early stage compared to more mature markets. Banks, fintech firms and logistics companies are among the early adopters, driven by demand for secure, scalable and compliant digital infrastructure. However, many organisations still rely on in-house server rooms.

“There is still a legacy mindset where companies feel safer keeping their servers in their own offices,” Mr Kyriacou said. “But in reality, a professionally managed data centre offers higher levels of security, reliability and cost efficiency.”

This perception gap continues to slow migration to colocation and cloud-based services, despite growing evidence of cost and performance advantages.

Cost pressures for SMEs

For small and medium-sized enterprises, cost remains a decisive barrier. Building independent server infrastructure requires significant upfront investment in hardware, cooling systems and backup power. To address this, Wingu Africa is promoting colocation services that allow businesses to rent space within shared facilities.

“We are converting what used to be capital expenditure into operational expenditure,” Mr Kyriacou said. “A small start-up can begin with a fraction of a rack and expand over time, without the burden of heavy upfront costs.”

This model is increasingly relevant in economies where digital entrepreneurship is expanding but access to capital remains constrained.

Data sovereignty

On the policy front, Tanzania has taken steps to strengthen its digital governance framework. The Personal Data Protection Act has introduced clearer rules on the handling, storage and processing of personal data.

Mr Kyriacou said the law is already influencing investment decisions.

“Tanzania’s data protection framework is already encouraging organisations to keep sensitive data within the country,” he said. He added that compliance requirements are becoming a key driver of demand for local hosting infrastructure, particularly in sectors such as finance, healthcare and public administration. “Compliance is now a major driver. Businesses understand the legal and operational risks of hosting critical data offshore,” he said.

However, he noted that further regulatory clarity—particularly on cloud services and cross-border data flows—would strengthen investor confidence and support sector growth.

Constraints, operational costs

Energy remains one of the most significant operational challenges for data centre operators. Continuous, high-quality power supply is essential for maintaining uptime and meeting global standards. While Tanzania has expanded electricity generation capacity in recent years, including hydropower developments, reliability and stability remain uneven in some areas.

Data centre operators are therefore required to invest heavily in backup systems, including generators and battery storage, increasing operational costs.

Mr Kyriacou said the sector would benefit from stronger integration of renewable energy sources.

“While there have been improvements, we still need greater stability and increased integration of renewable energy to support long-term growth,” he said.

Skills gap in digital infrastructure

Beyond physical infrastructure, Tanzania faces a growing shortage of specialised digital skills. Demand is increasing in areas such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, network engineering and systems architecture.

Industry stakeholders argue that the education and training ecosystem has not yet fully aligned with market requirements.

Mr Kyriacou said this gap could slow down the pace of digital transformation if not addressed.

Regional positioning and future outlook

Looking ahead, Wingu Africa expects Tanzania’s digital ecosystem to expand rapidly over the next five years. Key growth areas include hybrid cloud adoption, edge computing and increased reliance on data-driven services.

These trends are being shaped by the rollout of advanced mobile networks and the expansion of digital financial services across East Africa.

Tanzania is also expected to strengthen its role as a regional connectivity corridor, linking submarine cables to inland fibre routes serving neighbouring countries.

However, Mr Kyriacou stressed that policy coordination will be critical.

“Digital infrastructure should be treated as a core economic driver, not just a utility,” he said. “With the right policies and continued investment, Tanzania has the potential to become a central gateway for Africa’s digital economy.”

For now, Tanzania’s digital transformation remains a work in progress, anchored in strong infrastructure foundations, but still constrained by uneven connectivity, energy limitations and skills shortages.