Rack Centre has announced Mr Lars Johannisson as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2024, according to the data centre company.
The appointment, Rack Centre said in a statement, signals a strategic move to leverage Johannisson’s extensive experience in transformative industries.
Jasper Lankhorst, Group CEO of Rack Centre, who expressed the company’s excitement about Johannisson joining the leadership team, said that he is confident that Lars will lead the company to new heights due to his “wealth of experience and robust industry knowledge.”
“We are delighted to welcome Lars Johannisson on board as the new Chief Executive Officer of Rack Centre. He brings vast experience, and strategic leadership that will propel Rack Centre to new heights. I have full confidence in Lars’s ability to steer our company towards continued success, and I look forward to working closely with him to advance our position as a leading data centre provider,” Lankhorst said.
In assuming his new role as the CEO of Rack Centre, Johannisson highlighted Rack Centre’s market leadership and unique position in providing premium data centre services in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
He expressed his commitment to contributing to Nigeria’s digital growth and is thrilled to lead the team launching a hyperscale-ready 12MW data centre facility in Lagos by Q2 2024.
Johannisson’s extensive background in Telecom, IT Delivery, Managed Services, and Digital skilling positions him as a key player in Rack Centre’s growth strategy, the company said about his over 14 years of experience executing large B2B projects across 30 sub-Saharan countries.
His educational background is also broad, holding an MBA in General Management/Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and the Stanford University Executive Program on “Design, Innovation and Business Transformation,” Johannisson actively participates in “Digital and Economic Inclusion” discussions in Sub-Saharan Africa. His sponsorship of economic inclusion initiatives reflects a commitment to youth IT training and hiring partnerships with major CSV partners.
Before Rack Centre, Johannisson served as CEO of Teleperformance Sub-Saharan Africa, leading in digital CX and BPO. His previous roles include positions at Ericsson, SolarNow, and the YNV Group.
Established in 2012, Rack Centre is the only carrier and cloud neutral Tier III Constructed Facility Certified data centre in Africa that focuses solely on providing data centre co-location services and unrestricted interconnect between carriers and customers.
