The news marks CDC’s second investment in Liquid Telecom, following a $180 million equity investment it made in 2018.
The additional investment from the CDC is made as part of Liquid Telecom’s wider fund where the company has raised $307 million through a rights issue to shareholders.
This investment will be used to support Liquid Telecom’s plans to further expand its pan-African data centre operation business, Africa Data Centres, and consolidate its position as a leading data centre operator on the continent.
“We remain committed to improving digital infrastructure in Africa and helping the continent’s governments, businesses and people gain access to quality online services,” said Nick O’Donohoe (pictured), chief executive of CDC.
“Our aggregate investment to Liquid Telecom now stands at $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. Investing in Africa’s digital infrastructure is vital for building resilience within African economies and accelerating their growth.”
It is estimated that less than 20% of telecoms enterprise demand is being served in Africa, compared with London which has three times more cloud computing power available than the entire continent.
Liquid Telecom’s development of data centres will boost economic activity by reducing IT 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 to medium sized enterprises.
“CDC’s additional equity investment into Liquid Telecom represents another crucial step in connecting businesses in Africa, with Liquid Telecom at the forefront of the continent’s eruption in technology adoption,” added Nic Rudnick, group chief executive officer of Liquid Telecom.
“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.”
