The African tech scene woke up today to exciting news about the landmark acquisition of MainOne, one of the region’s most important and pivotal tech companies in the past decade, by Equinix, a U.S. multinational specializing in internet connection data centers.
The story of MainOne starts with founder and CEO Funke Opeke moving back to Nigeria after working as an executive at Verizon. When she noticed how poor internet connectivity was in Nigeria, she started Mainstreet Technologies, the company behind the development of the MainOne Cable, to provide network solutions to businesses in Nigeria and West Africa in 2008.