MainOne

About MainOne

MainOne, now an Equinix company, operates as a key provider of digital infrastructure services in West Africa. Founded in 2010 by Funke Opeke, the company was established to address the region's significant internet connectivity challenges. Opeke, a Nigerian electrical engineer with a Master's from Columbia University, leveraged over two decades of experience in the US telecom sector, including a role as an executive director at Verizon, before returning to Nigeria. After brief stints at MTN Nigeria and as an advisor for the privatization of NITEL, she identified a critical need for better internet infrastructure and founded MainOne, originally Main Street Technologies.

The company's foundational achievement was the construction of West Africa's first privately owned, open-access submarine communications cable. This 7,000-kilometer cable stretches from Portugal to West Africa, with landing points in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal, significantly enhancing connectivity to Europe and the rest of the world. This subsea network, combined with an extensive terrestrial fiber network and multiple points of presence, forms the backbone of MainOne's offerings. In April 2022, the company was acquired by Equinix, a global digital infrastructure company, for an enterprise value of $320 million, a move aimed at accelerating Equinix's expansion into Africa. Funke Opeke has continued to lead the business under the new brand "MainOne, an Equinix company".

MainOne's business model is centered on providing wholesale connectivity and data center solutions to a business-to-business clientele. Its customers include telecommunications operators, internet service providers (ISPs), governments, and large enterprises in sectors like financial services, technology, and media. The company generates revenue by offering a suite of services, including wholesale internet access, metro connectivity, and global interconnection services. A major component of its operations is its data center subsidiary, MDx-i, which launched its first Tier III data center in Lagos in 2015. These data centers offer colocation, cloud services, and disaster recovery solutions, catering to the enterprise market's need for secure and reliable digital infrastructure. Through partnerships with global tech firms like Microsoft, MDx-i also provides cloud computing solutions built on platforms like Azure.