Liquid Telecom gets $180m funding from UK’s CDC Group
The company will be used to expand broadband infrastructure across Africa
Liquid Telecom received a $180m cash injection from UK development finance institution CDC Group as Africa’s largest fibre-network operator expands broadband infrastructure across the continent. The investment will give London-based CDC a stake of almost 10% in Liquid, which is majority owned by Mauritius-based Econet Global. The funding will enable Liquid to expand its network in five new countries including Nigeria and Ethiopia, CEO Nic Rudnic said. This month the group announced it would spend as much as $400m to develop its network in Egypt. “This is a capital-intensive business,” Strive Masiyiwa, Econet’s founder and majority shareholder, said. The plan is to seek a longer term equity partner to back expansion into countries that don’t always offer a quick return on investment, he said. Global technology giants are competing to establish affordable and efficient ways to extend high-speed internet through Africa, where hundreds of millions of people lack web access. Facebook has...
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