WIOCC secures USD 20 mln from IFC to increase broadband connectivity in Africa

News Broadband Africa 19 AUG 2020
WIOCC secures USD 20 mln from IFC to increase broadband connectivity in Africa

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced a USD 20 million loan to the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) to help it expand and improve affordable internet connectivity in Africa. The loan is part of IFC's global USD 8 billion fast-track Covid-19 response facility announced in March. IFC’s support will help WIOCC upgrade subsea capacity, including the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), and deploy terrestrial fibre networks in the region. 

According to a report by IFC, only about 22 percent of Africa's population has access to an internet connection, the lowest of any region in the world. WIOCC CEO Chris Wood said the expansion will allow it to take opportunities created by the increasing demand for online services during the crisis.


 

Categories:

Fixed

Companies:

Eassy,  WIOCC

Regions:

Africa

Tags:

Network equipment, Fibre, Wireline, Internet Access, Enterprise, Financial funding

Related Articles

AFRICA 22 JUL 2021

IFC invests USD 1 bln in emerging market TMT in FY 2021, almost 75% in Africa

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) said surging demand for digital connectivity during the Covid-19 pandemic has led IFC's commitments to the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) sector in emerging markets to exceed USD 1 billion for the first time in one fiscal year. Almost three quarters of the commitments, made in the fiscal year ending June, were in Africa. IFC said that pandemic-induced lockdowns brought significant economic activity to a halt, but digital infrastructure demonstrated its criti

AFRICA 15 MRT 2021

IFC invests in Savannah Fund to support African technology start-ups

IFC has announced an investment in the Savannah Fund, a technology seed fund in Africa, to increase lending to start-ups in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and disruptive companies in high-growth sectors. IFC led the fund's first close, investing USD 3 million in the USD 25 million fundraising. The Women's Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, or We-Fi, invested USD 500,000.

CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 1 MRT 2021

WIOCC appoints Vunda as country sales manager for Zambia and DR Congo

International capacity wholesaler WIOCC has appointed Mwesu Vunda as country sales manager for Zambia and for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is a newly created position and prior to joining WIOCC, Vunda was sales director at GlobalTel Zambia and has also held enterprise roles with Liquid Telecom and Vodafone Zambia.

AFRICA 23 FEB 2021

WIOCC says multiple outages affect clients in African countries

The West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) said its Network Operation Centre (NOC) observed interruptions to a significant number of client services between Djibouti and Marseille, France on the SeaMeWe5 submarine cable, affecting voice, data and internet services in multiple countries across eastern and southern Africa. Once it was determined that fault repair would require a subsea operation extending over a number of weeks, WIOCC's team set to work implementing restoration solutions on alternative route

AFRICA 13 NOV 2020

Africa's internet economy could be worth USD 180 billion by 2025, over 5% of GDP

A new report released by Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), estimates that Africa's internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2 percent of the continent's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, contributing nearly USD 180 billion to its economy. The report, e-Conomy Africa 2020, projects that the potential contribution could reach USD 712 billion by 2050. Driving this growth is a combination of increased access to faster and better quality internet connectivity, a rapidly expanding u

AFRICA 8 OKT 2020

WIOCC raises USD 100 mln for Africa expansion from EAIF and AFD

The West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) has raised USD 100 million to finance the development of its internet connectivity offering in Africa, Ecofin reported. It received a loan of USD 40 million from the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) and USD 60 million from Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD). WIOCC says it will increase its customer base, create a more competitive market, and help lower wholesale and retail prices for connectivity.

SOMALIA 28 JUL 2020

Somalia goes without internet for 2 days

Internet services were cut off in the Somalia capital and other towns in southern and central parts of the country for two days from 25 July due to damaged undersea fibre-optic cables. The Eassy submarine cable consortium restored temporary service on 27 July while it sent a repair vessel to investigate, Garowe Online reported. 

AFRICA 14 MEI 2020

Alcatel wins 2Africa subsea cable contract from Orange, Facebook, MTN, China Mobile

China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC announced that they will partner to build 2Africa, a subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East. They announced the appointment of Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build the cable, in a fully funded project to enhance connectivity in the region.

YEMEN 17 JAN 2020

FALCON submarine cable cut off Yemen hits internet services in Gulf and Africa

Ethiopia, Sudan and Tanzania are affected by cuts to the FLAG Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network (FALCON) undersea cable off Yemen, which is thought to have occurred on 09 January, ITWeb reported. The FALCON cable is managed by Global Cloud Xchange (GCX). GCX said it suffered two major cable cuts off Port Suez, hitting the FALCON route between Muscat and Suez, and the Flag Europe-Asia (FEA) route between Mumbai and Suez. 

KENYA 25 OKT 2019

IFC to invest USD 25 mln in new sea cable planned by WIOCC for equity stake

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will inject USD 25 million into a new sea cable project by the Western Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), in which Telkom Kenya is a shareholder, Business Daily reported. The investment will be in the form of equity, to partly fund the USD 235 million scheme to the east and west coasts of Africa as well as the development of strategically located data centres on the continent. 

AFRICA 15 MRT 2018

WIOCC appoints APTelecom as channel partner for Africa connectivity

African wholesale operator WIOCC said it has appointed APTelecom, a facilities-based telecom consulting and service company specialised in emerging markets, as its international sales partner for new client markets in Asia and the US. 

Just In

3 APR 15:21

Viettel's overseas revenue jumps 25% in 2025

3 APR 13:28

Beltelecom sells new anti-virus pack for SMEs from Kaspersky

3 APR 13:19

Former SFR director Boulay to join Arcep executive board

3 APR 12:37

Vivo introduces Pay Crediario instalment plan for electronic goods purchases

Commentary

11 FEB 12:29

Odido shareholders face tricky exit after abandoned IPO

2 FEB 13:49

KPN results show little bother from the competition

2 JAN 13:21

Open Dutch Fiber's new management team takes up turnaround challenge

15 DEC 2025 13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

Background

29 MRT 22:46

The week in telecoms: Italy brings back PTT, US bans foreign routers and social media on trial

23 MRT 00:38

The week in telecoms: OFC and Nvidia events drive data centre networking talk, Orange debuts full French office stack

16 MRT 00:25

The week in telecoms: Pakistan ready for 5G, Google exits FTTH market and Canal Plus works on pay-TV turnaround

6 MRT 16:00

The week in telecom: MWC brings 5G advances, AI and satellite integration, plus first robot phone

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.