21 May 2019

Pan-African firm Liquid Telecom has completed a deal with CDC Group, which will see the development finance house become an eight per cent shareholder in the operator for a USD180m investment.

CDC, formerly known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation, is owned by the British government and it is focused on investments in Asia and Africa.

Liquid Telecom said in a statement that the planned deal, first announced in December, had gone through as all conditions have now been met, with the money received It is reportedly the largest ever investment by CDC in an African firm.

Liquid Telecom is headquartered in London and was created by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, who also founded Econet Group. It operates fibre-optic networks in 20 African nations and has fibre infrastructure spanning from Cape Town to Cairo. It acquired South Africa’s Neotel in 2017 in a R6.5bn deal.

The process was started in December 2018, which meant Liquid Telecom was then able to push back its listing on the London Stock Exchange.