There are no risks and impacts expected to be significant, associated with PS 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement: the majority length of the proposed new cable project will be laid in the sea, while the onshore cables to landing points will run along government utility routes, already acquired cable routes in previous projects and private land acquired on a willing buyer, willing seller basis. PS 7: Indigenous Peoples and PS 8: Cultural Heritage: there were no relevant risks and impacts associated with the proposed data centres or ongoing cable projects at the time of appraisal.

This is a Category B project, according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy. Based on the information reviewed during the appraisal, it is expected to have limited adverse environmental and social risks and impacts that are few in number, short-term and site-specific, and can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to recognized performance standards, procedures, guidelines and design criteria as described in the following sections.

Key E&S risks and impacts associated with the project include: adequacy of WIOCC’s E&S management system; the Sponsor’s capacity and tools to assess and manage E&S risks and issues associated with the expected surge in construction, excavations, cable-laying and transportation activities; implementation of Data Center site construction and operation phase Environmental Management Plans, including the mitigation measures identified by the Noise Impact Assessment, in line with the IFC Performance Standard requirements; provision of fair and safe and healthy working conditions for staff and project contractors’ workers; resource efficiency, hazardous materials, wastes and wastewater management; possible marine habitat alteration; impacts on cultural heritage areas and features; security management; and the company’s stakeholder engagement activities.

Environmental and Social Assessment and Management System (ESMS) and Identification of Risks and Impacts:

WIOCC has active operations in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, with different compliance regimes and varying E&S management risks. The Company just recently developed an E&S MS Manual with policies and procedures on risk management of aspects such as E&S, labour, health and safety, security, gender and equality, land acquisition, stakeholder management and contractor E&S management. The procedures are designed more for project construction (cable and data projects) and will be updated to include E&S risks in routine WIOCC operations (including covering data centre operational risks). The departmental standard E&S operating procedures (SOPs) will also be reviewed and improved in line with the identified operations E&S risks and will include key performance indicators (KPIs) for all set E&S targets. The updated SOPs will be implemented across all countries of operation (ESAP #1).

For the data centres business expansion, WIOCC is constructing a greenfield data centre in Lekki, Nigeria; and retrofitting an existing building into a data centre in Durban. The Environmental Impact Assessment for the Lekki Data Center was undertaken in 2021 and an adequate E&S management plan (ESMP) is now being implemented during the construction period. For the Durban site, an adequate Construction Environment Health and Safety Management Program is being implemented, overseen by a project consultant and WIOCC Data Centers Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Manager. Though data centre business will have its own management under WIOCC, the corporate ESMS will cover this business as well as the connectivity business.

All subsea cable E&S studies and cable laying works, up to the landing station are undertaken by consortia formed by different global companies, and WIOCC is just one of them. The consortia take joint responsibilities for these projects and have engaged a reputable and experienced international company specialized in submarine networks that works with international E&S consultants for cable route surveys and E&S studies. For the three subsea cable branches under the jurisdiction of WIOCC, three subsea branch cable project ESIAs have been undertaken. These include Equiano – Nigeria; 2Africa – South Africa and 2Africa Somalia cable branches. The E&S Impact Assessment (ESIA) reports for these three cable branches cover key E&S risks in line with IFC PS. IFC comments on identified potential biodiversity impacts are discussed under PS 6 below.

At this point, it cannot be excluded the need for some limited requirements for new land acquisitions though, especially where new landing points are located away from existing points and no government utility lines exist, and hence the company has developed a land acquisition and compensation procedure that commits to following PS 5 requirements in case of involuntary physical or economic resettlement as part of the company’s E&S Management System (ESMS). The proposed data centres will be built on land already owned by the shareholders, or on parcels purchased on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, without any encumbrances.

Management Programs:

WIOCC has an SOP implemented by each department for routine business operations. These procedures have few E&S risk management elements and as required in ESAP #1 above, they will be revised in line with IFC PS. The E&S procedures to be updated will also be applied to address overarching E&S risk areas, including security, stakeholder engagement and land acquisition. When projects are conceived, or some maintenance activities are needed, the newly developed project E&S risk screening procedure is applied to identify related risks. The procurement department then develops terms of reference (that include E&S requirements) for contractors. For projects, ESIAs are undertaken in line with IFC PS requirements and corresponding ESMPs developed. The E&S team at WIOCC undertakes project supervision in accordance with WIOCC’s set of requirements and respective project ESMPs, either directly or through consultant companies. The contractors are further required to prepare and implement construction EHS management plans and adequately oversee their workers’ working conditions. This is the case for the two ongoing data centre construction projects in Durban and Lekki.

Organizational Capacity and Competency:

The Company has a Board of Management comprising seconded representatives from the 14 shareholding entities. The Director, Legal has management responsibilities on non-technical / non-operational matters, including E&S, and takes direction from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on all health and safety matters. The company has retained a competent E&S person on a consultancy basis to coordinate the development of the ESMS and effectively oversee contractor E&S supervision. The E&S consultant reports to the Director, Legal. For the newly added data centre business, an EHS Manager has been recruited. He is overseeing data centre construction and will oversee designing appropriate E&S procedures for all data centres, working closely with the E&S consultant and the Director, Legal. An ESMS team is being constituted to provide overall leadership in the implementation of the ESMS, and the team reports to the CEO. Each department has an E&S representative in the ESMS team and will take leadership on E&S matters pertaining to their respective departments.

Emergency Preparedness and Response:

WIOCC have developed a corporate Emergency Preparedness and Response Procedure. The Procedure covers key aspects including drills, responsibilities and response protocols to fire and environmental incidents. The Procedure will be updated to; a) detail all possible emergency situations applicable to the operations (in different country contexts) and projects; b) provide a clear description of emergency response training requirements for staff and contractors; c) break the emergency response facilities into specific office locations, including respective office emergency response layouts/illustrations; and d) provide details of emergency contacts at each work station and for contractors, and external security and health partners’ contacts (ESAP #2).

Monitoring and Review:

The human resources department reviews E&S training reports and requirements of staff each year. For the routine operations, the Audit Procedure will be updated to include detail and frequency of E&S monitoring and audits and reporting protocol within the company’s operations including to the CEO. This update will also include measures to track the implementation of E&S action plans on identified weaknesses or gaps (ESAP #3).

For Data Centres and Cable Connectivity Projects, the monitoring and reporting requirements are defined as part of the project ESMPs. Further, WIOCC conducts quarterly monitoring of contractor E&S performance.

The Company’s workforce totals about 99 direct employees in the various countries of operation; comprising 33 female employees and 66 male employees. All employees have written contracts specifying terms of employment, hours of work, salary amounts and timelines, rights and responsibilities. No workers’ organization exists, and no collective bargaining agreements have been entered.

Human Resources Policies and Procedures, Working Conditions and Terms of Employment

WIOCC has an Employee Handbook that provides information on procedures, practices, rights and responsibilities for all employees in relation to working conditions and wages, and is issued to each employee upon recruitment, consistent with the requirement of PS2.

The Handbook will be revised to: (i) include provisions committing the company to respect workers’ freedom of association, (ii) document the company stance on child and force labor, (iii) update the workers’ grievance procedure by documenting the modes of raising anonymous complaints, and (iv) include retrenchment management procedures (ESAP #4). The Handbook also provides for adherence to local legal employment requirements. However, the document restricts overtime compensation to cases where specific provisions are made in employee contracts, or at the CEO’s discretion. WIOCC will revise the overtime language in the HR Handbook so that the subjective “discretion of CEO” as an alternative to the overtime provisions in the employee contracts is deleted (ESAP #5).

Non-discrimination and Equal Opportunity:

The company has a non-discrimination and equal opportunity policy statement that fosters fair treatment at the workplace. It commits WIOCC to establish values that do not discriminate against employees or applicants with regard to differences in race, tribe, color, HIV/AIDS status, religion, pregnancy, sex, age, national origin, marital status, physical disability or any other protected characteristic. Key aspects such as recruitment, training, promotion, and salary increase are reported to have been undertaken according to the company policy and are guided by developed instruments and protocols, including legal requirements, as opposed to subjective preferences. The Employee Handbook provides adequate guidelines on harassment and intimidation and provides clear disciplinary procedures.

Retrenchment:

The Handbook indicates that the management shall provide benefits in accordance with the employee’s statutory entitlement and employment contract in case of any retrenchments. The company will develop a retrenchment procedure in line with PS2 as required under ESAP #4.

Grievance Mechanism:

WIOCC has established a workers’ grievance procedure (including a grievance form, grievance processing and feedback timelines) commensurate with the operations, and embedded it into the Employee Handbook, issued to each employee. The procedure provides specific timelines for handling grievances, and responsible offices at each level of grievance management. Further, a Whistleblowing Policy has been developed to provide for anonymous grievances to be raised. The grievance procedure will be revised to document the modes of raising anonymous complaints, as part of activities under ESAP #4.

Protecting the Workforce:

No child or forced labour is engaged in the operations. The employee recruitment process aligns with the respective country’s legal provisions, which are designed to protect against unsafe child labour or forced labour. The Employee Handbook will be revised to document the Company’s commitment to the prohibition of child or forced labour, as part of ESAP #4.

Occupational Health and Safety:

The Company’s Health & Safety Policy acknowledges management’s commitment to ensure the safety of the employees and workplace and providing required resources to implement the Policy. No serious incidents or fatalities were reported in the last 2 years. The company has conducted a corporate E&S risk assessment that also includes OHS risks and will develop/upgrade the OHS Risk Management Procedure (under ESAP #1) to cover all identified operational risks. For projects, the Construction OHS management plans are applied to address potential risks to contractor workers. To address COVID-19-related risks, the Company sustained bi-monthly e-meetings with staff to discuss the COVID-19 situation and related health impacts. The company has also implemented specific occupational health & safety (OHS) measures to respond to COVID-19 risks in the workplace. The crisis management procedures were expanded to include COVID-19 procedures based on guidance from the World Health Organization and respective governments.

Management of Third-Party Workers

The Company have a contractor E&S management procedure that requires compliance with country laws, WIOCC E&S policies and IFC PS (as applicable) in the studies and construction works. The contractors are expected to prepare and implement construction EHS management plans and adequately oversee their workers’ working conditions.

Resource Efficiency:

Energy Use, Water Use Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions: Grid electricity is the main energy source for the Company operations. The energy is used to power both their operational offices and data centres. Currently, the Company does not record energy use, saving or efficiency initiatives, or undertake energy audits. WIOCC consumes municipal water for the majority of its operations. Quantities are limited and primarily used for routine administrative, sanitary and cleaning purposes. Potential emission sources from routine administrative operations are mainly related to backup generators and vehicle use and are relatively insignificant. However, because of the energy-intensive nature of computing and supporting infrastructure, the new data centres will consume more significant amounts of energy. The data centres are expected to be designed and be certified as per South Africa’s “Green Star” rating, or an equivalent “Green” rating, mostly for greenfield constructions.

Given the addition of data centres to the Company’s operated facilities and the expected significant increase in resource consumption, the company will develop templates and record annual energy and water consumption, for efficiency planning across the business. These will be reported in the annual E&S reports to IFC. The Company will also measure and record direct emissions from its data centres, all its facilities (with engines) owned or controlled by the company; and from the vehicles used in their operations and direct projects. Quantification of GHG emissions will be conducted by the company annually in accordance with internationally recognized methodologies and good practice and will be reported to IFC (ESAP #6).

Waste and Wastewater Management:

The main wastes generated from the Company operations are office general wastes, wastewater from cleaning activities and non-hazardous wastes from occasional from equipment repairs. Wastewater from the operational facilities, mainly sanitary wastewater, is discharged into municipal sewers. The Waste Management Plan for the operations is in place and will be updated as part of ESAP #1. The Data Centres will have their own similar waste management procedures once operational.

For the construction and cable-laying projects, project-specific Waste Management Plans will be developed and implemented as part of the project ESMPs.

Hazardous Materials Management:

The Company does not store significant quantities of hazardous materials. Some chemical cleaning agents and equipment repair materials would fall into this category but are few in the operations. However, during projects, the nature of work, equipment and processes may involve the use of various forms of hazardous materials (including stand-by generators and fuel storage). Project-specific hazardous materials management measures will be at each project. All fuel storage tanks (e.g., at the data centres) will be designed and constructed to meet international standards, including adequate secondary containment. 

Community Health and Safety:

The Data Centres are designed to meet recognized international standards. During data centre operations, all fire and electrical systems will be tested in line with local and international fire regulations and electrical standards. This will safeguard the workforce and any visitors from fire risks from the facilities.

Undersea cable laying activities are undertaken by a reputable and experienced international company. The ESIAs are done by similarly competent international consultants

On-shore, WIOCC operations do not significantly interfere with communities, hence no or negligible health risk. However, the activities in the construction of the data centres or laying of connectivity cables between landing stations and the data centres may pose safety and health risks to local communities (e.g. impediment to movement, accidents on excavated areas, dust and erosion during excavation). For the already commenced data center projects, the relevant mitigations have been described in the project ESMPs.

Security Personnel:

The Company has contracted security companies to provide security for the data centres and at the offices. These are non-armed security officers. During the construction of the data centres or laying of connectivity cables, there may be a need for enhanced security provision at landing points and around critical equipment storage/uphold areas. The Company’s Security Management Procedures are focused on projects, with contractors bearing the primary responsibilities. This Procedure will be revised to cover both corporate routine security risks and WIOCC responsibilities and be aligned to the IFC PS requirements (under ESAP #1).

 As mentioned in the PS 1 section, there are three planned subsea cable branches for which ESIAs have been undertaken: Equiano – Nigeria branch terminating at the Lekki Beach, Lagos; 2Africa – South Africa cable branch terminating at Amanzimtoti, Durban and 2Africa Somalia cable branch terminating in Mogadishu. Works at the terrestrial cable landing ducts at the Nigeria branch cable are completed. IFC reviewed the biodiversity section of the ESIAs, which are based on secondary sources plus walk over site visits, and the material findings are as below:

Cable routing studies were conducted prior to the ESIAs and, where needed, routing will be refined pre-construction to avoid areas of significant biodiversity such as seagrass beds, corals, mangroves and beach and shoreline areas important for birds and nesting turtles.

The tidal and marine footprint of the cables is in Natural Habitat. Cable burial work is completed in a matter of days and has a limited footprint (1 to 5 m) which will only be disturbed during construction. Beach restoration to natural conditions will be completed immediately after cable burial. Minor seabed disturbance will occur during construction and the affected areas are expected to be recolonized quickly by benthic communities. No significant residual impacts to Natural Habitat will therefore occur. In all cases, the terrestrial connecting site for the cable is located in developed areas behind the beach and therefore in Modified Habitat.

Generally, the stretches of beaches around the cable landing sites have been disturbed by human activities given location adjacent to developed areas. Despite this, turtle nesting may occur around the Somalia cable landing site. If nesting is confirmed, specific sea turtle mitigation will be implemented, including undertaking beach construction activities outside the peak nesting season (ESAP #7).

Given very limited seabed alteration, negligible impacts on fish and other marine biodiversity are expected. The risk of other construction related impacts resulting from noise, light and potential for collisions with marine mammals is minimal following implementation of mitigation measures included in the ESIAs.

The cable branches covered by the ESIAs do not intersect coastal or marine legally protected or internationally recognized areas. The route of the proposed South Africa cable branch has a minimal overlap with several ecological sensitive areas including: the Protea Banks and Sardine Route EBSA, Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA1, CBA2) and Ecological Support Areas (ESA) defined by the South African National Coastal and Marine Spatial Biodiversity Plan (2020). Some of these areas may qualify as Critical Habitat. WIOCC will ensure the final cable routing for this branch avoids overlap with ecologically sensitive areas. If avoiding overlap with some of these areas is not feasible, WIOCC will conduct an assessment to see if these areas meet the definition of Critical Habitat. If Critical Habitat is confirmed, WIOCC will make contributions to selected existing conservation activities with the aim of achieving Net Gain as per IFC PS6 requirements, given that no significant residual impacts will occur (ESAP #8).

By the nature of its ownership, the Company regularly engages with the regulatory agencies in the respective countries of operation. Given the nature of the projects, the Company has usually relied on contractors to engage directly with local communities and affected persons. The Company has recently developed a Stakeholder Engagement Procedure that is more focused on contractor’s activities and lays key responsibilities on project contractors. The Procedure will be upgraded to cover the Company’s corporate-level risks and standardize all corporate stakeholder engagement activities in routine operations (ESAP #1). As part of this upgrade, the external communication and external grievance management mechanism recently developed will be updated to cover the Company’s corporate responsibilities as well, and be part of the Stakeholder Engagement Procedure. The Procedure will ensure transparency and efficiency in information sharing, grievance redress and feedback to local communities and aggrieved parties.

In projects, stakeholder engagement is conducted during the ESIA studies and implementation of the projects, with communities neighbouring the facilities, local government authorities and relevant non-government entities, and project-specific grievance management protocols be implemented. This was the case for the two subsea cable project ESIAs already undertaken since 2020, where the ESIAs included consultations with stakeholders and design of mitigation measures have been developed to be implemented during the upcoming cable laying works.

Contact Person: Kate Waiganjo

Company Name: West Indian Ocean Cable Company

Email: kate.waiganjo@wiocc.net>

Phone: +254 20 4212000