32-year-old South African tech entrepreneur Rupert Bryant’s Webafrica takes over Mweb

Webafrica, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) co-founded by 32-year-old tech entrepreneur Rupert Bryant, is set to acquire Mweb, one of South Africa’s pioneering ISPs. The acquisition is now in the final stages, pending the green light from South Africa’s Competition Commissioner. As of now, the specifics of the transaction remain under wraps.

The successful completion of this merger will see Webafrica’s scale roughly doubling, integrating more tehan 300 professionals from Mweb into its existing team of 350. Current indications are positive, with no job cuts anticipated. It’s noteworthy that while a significant chunk of Mweb’s clientele utilizes fiber connectivity, a substantial portion still relies on traditional copper-wire connections.

With its central office in Cape Town, Webafrica proudly serves 250,000 customers. On the other hand, Mweb, operating as a segment of Internet Solutions and a branch of Dimension Data, also hails from Cape Town and boasts connections to over 1.3 million homes.

Bryant wears many hats as the COO and a board member of Webafrica, a standout in South Africa’s ISP landscape. His journey with the company dates back to his teen years when, at 16, he partnered with co-founder Matthew Tagg to establish the business. Even at the young age of 14, Bryant managed his own web development business. So, when Webafrica was in its inception phase as a hosting service, the synergy between Tagg and Bryant was evident. The duo kickstarted Webafrica on a shoestring budget.

Today, a decade later, Webafrica records an impressive annual turnover of more than $30 million and has a workforce of over 100 people.