Ride Collaborates with Wingu Africa Data Center, Reveals Plans for Expansion

RIDE, a leading ride-hailing firm, has announced a strategic partnership with Wingu Africa, a data center provider in East Africa. The partnership, signed yesterday May 15, 2023, aims to increase the scope, quality, and reliability of RIDE’s services, ensuring a seamless experience for its users.

In addition to the transportation technology services provided by RIDE, the company is focusing on new ventures. According to RIDE CEO Samrawit Fikru, the collaboration with Wingu Africa will facilitate the expansion of RIDE into Bill Management System and Food Delivery services, which have made additional data center capacity a requirement.

Wingu Africa Group Limited, a carrier-neutral data center group, operates four data centers in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somaliland, and Tanzania. With its facilities located in the ICT Park, the data center broke ground in Ethiopia in 2021 and became operational in 2022. The Tier 3-ready facility hosts up to 800 racks with 10MW of power, providing secure power and fiber connectivity for customers who require uninterrupted service.

Reports indicate that Wingu plans a second facility in Adama City, 96km to the southeast of the capital. Meanwhile, Ride entered the food delivery service last week, broadening its scope of offerings to customers. The company announced that it has partnered with over 1,000 restaurants in Addis Ababa and is preparing to initially deploy 4,000 drivers, representing around 10% of its fleet, for this new venture.