(Agence Ecofin) – According to the GSMA, 54% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa does not have access to mobile services. These unconnected people mostly live in remote rural areas that are difficult to access for the terrestrial networks of telecom operators.
The constructor of telecom towers Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) announced on Tuesday March 28 that it had secured a $20 million loan from BlueOrchard and Finnfund. These funds will be used to finance the deployment of mobile communications towers in rural and ultra-rural areas of Africa. This will bring mobile services to more than millions of unconnected people.
This loan was first announced in November 2022. It is part of AMN’s growth strategy. Said growth was accelerated in 2021 by the investment of USD 36 million in the capital of the company by a consortium led in particular by Metier, CDC Group, DEG, Proparco, etc.
AMN aims to expand its portfolio to have more than 10,000 towers in more than 20 countries in the region by the end of 2025, covering a population of more than 35 million people. Currently, the company’s network is made up of 2,000 towers spread across ten countries on the continent, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Congo and Guinea. The company recently signed a partnership agreement with Orange to build 500 telecom towers in rural areas of Madagascar.
Improving mobile coverage is essential in a context where only 46% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa uses mobile services, according to data from the Association of Mobile Operators and Manufacturers (GSMA). In 2021, the region had 515 million unique mobile phone subscribers.
« Sub-Saharan Africa has 1.1 billion people, one-seventh of the world’s population, 62% of whom are classified as rural. It is not only the fastest growing region of the world, but also the one with the highest percentage of the population without mobile coverage in the world.said Michael Darcy, Chairman and CEO of AMN.
Isaac K. Kassouwi
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15/11/2022 — Africa Mobile Networks secures $20 million loan to further expand telecom services in rural Africa