New Telegraph

CDC commits $50m for digital infrastructure in Africa

CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, has announced commitments totalling $50.9 million to expand digital infrastructure, boost rural connectivity and accelerate digital technology access for rural and underserved communities across sub-Saharan Africa.

The capital will support the continued growth of the ICT sector in the continent, helping to boost development of necessary infrastructure and providing rural and underserved communities with access to affordable mobile connectivity.

The first investment is a $40 million commitment to Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), managed by Convergence Partners – a specialist Africa-focused ICT fund manager – supporting a first close together with other DFI and financial investors of $120 million and a target fund size of $250 million. CDC’s funding will enable CPDIF to invest in digital infrastructure and the overlays needed to improve connectivity and access to ICT across the continent. In addition to investments in data centres, fibre networks, towers, software and wireless networks, the funding will support CPDIF to invest in fourth industrial revolution technologies such as 5G, cloud, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence – helping to stimulate innovation that will help bridge Africa’s digital divide.

CDC’s second investment is a $10.9 million equity commitment to a consortium led by Metier (a leading mid-cap fund manager in sub-Saharan Africa), alongside fellow DFIs DEG, Proparco and other leading financial institutions investing just under $40m in Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) – the 5th-largest independent tower company operating in Africa. The growth equity will enable the expansion of AMN’s mobile network infrastructure and rural connectivity, from the current level of circa 2,000 towers across 10 countries, to 5,000 towers across more than 15 countries by 2023.

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