Solar-based internet service provider, Tizeti, has secured an undisclosed amount in debt financing from Chapel Hill Denham’s Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF).
The debt facility will be used to finance the rollout of Tizeti’s state-of-the-art broadband network across 15 states in Nigeria.
The company, which is currently serving over 3 million subscribers in five states said it would deploy the debt funding to build new internet infrastructure and purchase additional equipment to expand its services to Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia, Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abuja, Kano, and Kaduna.
The funding is coming at a time when the federal government is implementing a National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020-2025) with a target of achieving 70% broadband penetration by 2025.
While the race toward realizing this target has been slow as broadband penetration in Nigeria still stood at 45.57% as of August this year, Tizeti’s latest funding is expected to accelerate the achievement of the broadband target.
Driving digital economy
Commenting on the financing via a statement released on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of NIDF, Anshul Raisaid, said:
- “Chapel Hill Denham is excited to partner with Tizeti in the expansion of a fast, reliable broadband network across Nigeria. The digital economy is a key strategic pillar for Nigeria to accelerate its economic and social development, and providing access to affordable internet services is crucial to achieving the true potential of digitization.
- “We continue to work with all stakeholders to support accelerated development of digital infrastructure in Nigeria by providing access to long-term, Naira-denominated financing for such projects – thus realizing the government’s vision of reaching 70% broadband penetration by 2025.”
In his comments, Tizeti’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kendall Ananyi, said:
- “We are excited to announce the closing of this new debt facility with Nigeria’s largest infrastructure debt fund. We see tremendous opportunity for domestic capital in addressing digital exclusion barriers in Nigeria and this partnership will hopefully be one of many. We will use this to build a last-mile digital infrastructure that will move internet capacity to other Nigerian states and catalyze sustained development, value creation, improved connectivity, and a deeper and wider digital inclusion net. This will also increase our coverage from 5 states and make us the largest internet service provider in Nigeria by coverage”.
What you should know
For many countries in Africa, there is still a huge digital divide.
This boundary between connected and unconnected translates into clear consequences for employment, education, family and social life, and access to information.
More so, the World Bank reports that every 10% increase in broadband penetration could lead to as much as 2.8% growth in Gross Domestic Product.
Partnerships such as this, therefore, play a significant role in addressing the digital infrastructure deficits in emerging economies, leveraging innovative technology and capabilities, to improve development outcomes for millions of people.