Wananchi Group, a pay television and internet operator in Kenya has raised US$ 130 million from its shareholders to be used in funding the growth of the company in east and southern Africa.
The company, through its vice chairman has said it will invest the cash in expanding its fibre-optic network to cover more cities across the region.
“The new capital investment will be used to concolidate the group’s market leadership in East Africa and to extend our services across East and Southern Africa,” said Richard Bell, vice chairman at Wananchi.
“We will continue the deployment of fibre to the home networks across a wide variety of geographies and market segments. We will also invest in exciting new technologies and service platforms to improve the quality of our products,” said Bell.
Wananchi raised the investment through both new investors such as Helios Investment Partners as well as the existing shareholders, including Altice SA, Liberty Global, Emerging Capital Partners (ECP).
The company said this was the best time to invest in the African markets and the transformation of the African consumer experience, of which Wananchi group is focused on.
“We believe this capital injection will enable the Wananchi Group to extend the coverage of its infrastructure as well as build upon its strong broadband-led triple play product offering, including direct to home satellite products to more consumers, said Dennis Aluanga, a partner at Helios Kenya.
