Afrimax, a network operator, has secured an additional $56 million in equity funding to create Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest 4G wireless data network with the greatest spectrum allocation. The investment, which is believed to be the largest ever placement for a greenfield network in Africa, has been provided by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the IFC African Latin American and Caribbean Fund (IFC ALAC Fund), Four G Capital, KGC Capital and private investors, spearheaded by Dick Kiphart. The wireless data network will be based on the Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) technology, allowing Afrimax to provide optimum performance to wireless internet users in Africa.
Afrimax’s 4G license footprint covers 222 million people in 12 African markets. The initial network planning and deployment, has already started in 7 markets and will roll out to all the countries under License over the next 3 years, with new Licenses to be acquired in parallel.
“Our support to Afrimax is a continuation of our long term strategy to enhance broadband access in Africa. Sub-Saharan African mobile penetration is around 63% but broadband penetration is currently around 5%. Afrimax will improve this, giving people in the region access to efficiency gains, business opportunities and greater access to information enabled by broadband data” said Aniko Szigetvari, Head, Media and Technology for IFC in Latin America and Africa.
Sujoy Bose, Chief Investment Officer and the Head of the IFC ALAC Fund, said “we are supporting a strong and experienced management team to launch and expand broadband internet services that are very much needed in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries.”
Afrimax was founded by Mobile Telephony entrepreneurs Jay Metcalfe (Chairman), Peter Langkilde (Chief Executive Officer) and Rob Philpott (Chief Financial Officer) who, for over twenty years, have been involved in highly successful telecommunications start-ups, operations and financing in Africa and around the world including Millicom, Celtel and BellSouth.
For more information, please go to www.afrimaxgroup.com, or contact the Afrimax Press Office at contact@afrimaxgroup.com.
About Afrimax
Afrimax, headquartered in the Netherlands and led by a highly experienced Management team, is building a pan-African wireless broadband network based on 4G TD-LTE technology and has already secured valuable spectrum and Licenses in multiple markets to date. Management has a successful track record in acquiring spectrum, building networks, and operating cellular services in diverse geographic markets, including Africa. For more information, visit www.afrimaxgroup.com.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About IFC Asset Management Company
A wholly-owned subsidiary of IFC, IFC Asset Management Company, LLC is IFC’s fund management arm. AMC invests third-party capital alongside IFC, enabling outside investors to benefit from IFC’s expertise in achieving strong returns, as well as positive development impact, in the countries in which it invests. AMC manages over $6 billion of capital across six investment funds, including one fund of funds.
About the IFC African, Latin American and Caribbean Fund
The IFC ALAC Fund is a $1 billion investment fund that invests alongside IFC in equity investments in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides long-term growth capital for private enterprises in these regions.
