African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced a minority investment by the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) into Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid), a pan-African telecommunications technology group. This is the first investment made by FEDA, a development impact-oriented subsidiary of Afreximbank, which provides equity and quasi-equity funding to companies developing trade and value-added export of goods and services in Africa. This investment enables FEDA to become a stakeholder in Africa’s fast-growing technology infrastructure landscape, in which Liquid is a leading player. With fiber optic network currently stretching over 100,000 km across Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the world’s fastest growing data market regions, Liquid has direct access to international submarine cable infrastructure as well as significant investment in data centres across the continent. Liquid is the only operator in Sub-Saharan Africa with a multi-country fiber network of such geographic breadth. Liquid’s infrastructure therefore facilitates intra- and extra-African connectivity thereby reducing the cost of communication and trade, in line with the mandate of FEDA and Afreximbank. Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, noted that:
“FEDA’s investment in Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a landmark deal as the fund’s first investment. The transaction is a demonstration of FEDA’s ability to leverage African Export-Import Bank’s network and invest in opportunities that will drive the structural transformation of trade on the continent. Liquid provides vital digital infrastructure that supports Africa’s connectivity and trade with the rest of the world. This investment will pave the way for more investments by FEDA and commences the process of building an institutional track record of successfully investing and delivering development impact on the continent.” The mission of FEDA is to provide equity capital with a focus on delivering development impact in diverse sectors in Africa which are critical to driving intra-African trade and value-added export development, while providing a financial return to investors.
