eBusiness Weekly
Oliver Kazunga
A UNITED Kingdom-based development finance institution, CDC Group, has committed an additional US$40 million to Liquid Telecom for supporting Africa’s digital transformation project being implemented by the company.
Liquid Telecom is the continent’s largest independent fibre, data centre and cloud technology provider with its network stretching over 70 000 kilometres from Cape in South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.
Recently, the company has been rolling out fibre optic networks across Africa including countries in Southern Africa such as Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, and Zambia. Liquid Telecom said the latest financial commitment follows were the initial US$180 million equity investment made by the European-based development finance organisation in 2018.
“CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, has announced an additional US$40 million equity investment into Liquid Telecom,” said the company in a latest update.
“This marks CDC’s second investment in the company, following a US$180 million equity investment in 2018.”
The additional investment is part of Liquid Telecom’s wider fundraising, which has seen the company attract US$307 million through a rights issue to shareholders.
“This investment will support Liquid Telecom’s plan to further expand its pan-African data centre operation business, Africa Data Centres, and consolidate its position as the leading data centre operator on the continent,” said the firm. Liquid Telecoms has said that its Africa Data Centres are well positioned to service increasing demands for data storage and cloud-based applications across the continent.
“Currently, it is estimated that less than 20 percent of potential telecommunications enterprise demand is being served in Africa, with London having three times more cloud computing power available than the entire continent,” it said.
It is envisaged that Liquid Telecom’s development of data centres will boost economic activity by reducing information technology-related costs for companies. Increased local capacity will also spur innovation by offering affordable data storage and Software-as-a-Service (Saas) applications to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, the company’s cloud-based services will also help accelerate the growth of Africa’s tech start-up ecosystems whilst also supporting the needs of established enterprises across the continent.
“This investment will contribute to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure),” said Liquid Telecom Managing director for direct equity, Tony Morgan, was quoted as saying the company remains committed to improving digital infrastructure in Africa and helping the continent’s governments, businesses and people gain access to quality online services.
“Our aggregate investment in Liquid Telecom now stands at US$220 million. This will play an important role in addressing the increasing demand for digital services and help close the digital divide between Africa and other regions,” he said.
Liquid Telecom group chief executive officer, Nic Rudnick, said CDC’s additional equity investment into Liquid Telecom represents another crucial step in connecting businesses in Africa.
“Africa has significant untapped economic potential that is being unlocked by improving connectivity, data storage and the use of cloud-based applications.
“This investment will bring significant economic benefits to developing markets across the continent,” he said.
