Leading United Kingdom development finance institution Commonwealth Development Corporation – (CDC) Group Plc will inject US$180 million in Liquid Telecoms for broadband connectivity expansion. This investment will focus on the untapped communities across the African continent, including supporting Africa’s thriving tech start-up ecosystem with high-speed internet and cloud-based services.
With Brexit uncertainty CDC accesses ex EU markets
With Brexit uncertainties more and more British firms have been seen to access ex European Union markets. This transaction is manifestation of the USD$4.5 billion investment pledge CDC has committed to over the next 4 years in Africa. Clearly CDC wants to be part of the Cape to Cairo journey – dubbed “the One Africa” embarked on by Liquid Telecoms. This has been a journey of the decade starting from South Africa, hubbing and routing through Zambia to East Africa all the way up to Sudan and Egypt. The network passes through some of the most remote corners of the planet and continues to provide new opportunities to connect undeserved communities.
“Our vision is to give every individual on the African continent the right to be connected by bringing reliable, high-speed broadband connectivity and cloud services to all. This includes businesses and communities in some of the most remote parts of the continent,” said Nic Rudnick, Group CEO, Liquid Telecom.
“We welcome CDC Group’s investment of $180m with Liquid Telecom since it will enable us to accelerate expansion along our award-winning Cape-to-Cairo route and further into Central and Western Africa. Once completed, it will bring significant economic and social benefits – from providing access to online educational resources to supporting national economies, creating more jobs and driving the adoption of new technologies. This is aligned to the vision of our Executive Chairman Strive Masiyiwa to not only connect Africa from North to South, but also from East to West.”
Digital infrastructure remains a concern for African governments
“Digital infrastructure is still a major problem for Africa’s governments, people and its businesses, so improving access to affordable and quality internet is central to Africa’s development and economic growth. Our investment in Liquid Telecom – which is one of CDC’s biggest ever investments – plays an important part in addressing infrastructure bottlenecks and helps bring about the innovation and efficiency gains that result from better internet access,” said Nick O’Donohoe, CEO, CDC Group Plc.
“CDC’s capital will enable Liquid Telecom to reach more countries in the continent, helping to connect millions more people and businesses. Africans have benefited hugely from the local mobile phone industry that CDC backed twenty years ago and we have similar hopes for our investments in Africa’s growing digital infrastructure.”