In this episode of the podcast, Duncan McLeod interviews Jan Hnizdo, chief financial officer of Africa's largest data centre operator, Teraco Data Environments.

Hnidzo speaks about the origins of Teraco, why it was founded, who financed it in its early days, its rapid expansion and the investment by private equity firm Permira in 2015. Is a listing on the cards?

In the podcast, he talks about the investments Teraco has made to date in building its various data centre facilities, and why that number will more than double in the coming years.

Hnidzo also explains what’s involved in running data centres at scale, the challenges of ensuring five-nines (99.999%) availability and why major content distribution networks have chosen the company’s facilities as their hub for the African continent.

He talks about Teraco’s expansion plans, its approach to East Africa and West Africa – why the company may pursue acquisitions to establish a presence there – and the impact that the Internet exchange point NAPAfrica has had on Internet costs and communication in South Africa.

It’s a great podcast. Don’t miss it!