Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) has signed an agreement with Wingu Africa to host some of its critical digital systems in the company’s data centre in Addis Ababa. The move aims to make electricity services across the country more reliable and efficient.

EEU, the state-owned body responsible for distributing, supplying, and selling electricity nationwide, said the partnership will strengthen its digital infrastructure and support the delivery of better services to customers. Michael Debela, EEU’s chief information officer, said the deployment is part of the utility’s plan to improve operational reliability and security.

Wingu Africa is a pan-African data centre operator with facilities in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania, and Somaliland. It launched in Ethiopia in August 2022 and opened its Addis Ababa data centre in 2023. The facility has ten megawatts of capacity and space for 800 racks. It also hosts Ethiopia’s first Internet Exchange in collaboration with ADDIX Technology Solutions.

The data centre is built to internationally recognised standards, providing secure, high-availability infrastructure for mission-critical operations. Wingu Africa received 60 million US dollars in funding earlier this year from Rand Merchant Bank to expand its digital infrastructure projects across East Africa.

Ethiopia currently has a limited commercial data centre presence, with five facilities in Addis Ababa operated by Wingu, Raxio, RedFox, and Safaricom. The partnership with EEU represents a significant step in the country’s efforts to strengthen its digital backbone and support essential services through modern technology.