The US government's international Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has released USD 500 million to back a consortium of regional and international telecommunication firms bidding for a mobile licence in Ethiopia, and has advanced USD 300 million to support Liquid Telecom's data centre expansion in Africa, ITWeb reported. The loan to the Vodafone-led Global Partnership for Ethiopia will be used to "finance the design, development, and operation of a new private mobile network provider" there and for "the acquisition of a mobile network provider" licence, the DFC said.
The project is expected to have a high developmental impact by creating a new, private telecommunications network that will increase connectivity in Ethiopia, using trusted technology. Other bidders for the two Ethiopian licences include MTN, Orange, Etisalat and Econet. Ethiopian officials said the licences available do not include mobile financial services, which could have been strength for the Vodafone consortium, as Safaricom already has a pioneer mobile money service, M-Pesa. The winning bids are scheduled to be announced two weeks after the process closes.
The DFC is also supporting Liquid Telecom's quest for a bigger share in Africa’s data centre market and has provided USD 300 million for Liquid subsidiary Africa Data Centres. This will support ADC's acquisition and expansion of existing data centre assets in South Africa and Kenya, in addition to Nigeria, a hub for its West Africa expansion plans. The DFC said the financing will also enable entry into new markets through the development, construction and operation of data centres in DFC-eligible African countries, increasing connectivity and supporting economic development.
