The MoU, signed with the Government of Zambia, will focus on accelerating the country’s digital transformation and provide reliable and affordable connectivity to all Zambians.

Building on Liquid’s already extensive investments made since it opened its doors in Zambia in 2011, the planned expansion of Liquid’s fibre network will see the connection of more towns across the country, and the physical infrastructure needed to connect schools and clinics along Liquid’s network will also be deployed. 

The group will also be working with the government to offer public and private cloud, and cyber security solutions to support the digitisation of government services. These activities and investments, coupled with further expansion of the network across Zambia’s borders will position Zambia as a strong hub of digital activity in the region.

According to the Zambia Inclusive Digital Economy Status Report 2022, only 53% of Zambians are digitally-included. The lack of connectivity and the impact it has on the country’s socio-economic development is the main reason why the Zambian government has prioritised the country’s digital transformation.

“We recognize the significant efforts that the Zambian government is making to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and share His Excellency, President Hichilema’s vision for the development of Zambia’s digital economy. Given the conducive investment environment, we are committed to further investments in Zambia’s digital infrastructure” said Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO, Cassava Technologies.

“The Liquid Zambia team is excited to be continuing our partnership with the Zambian government. Zambia is our home, and we are committed to seeing the country thrive. Being able to contribute meaningfully to its socio-economic growth and infrastructural development by sharing our knowledge and skills, and through the provision of the infrastructure and services needed by Zambian in this growth phase is important to us,” said Mark Townsend, Chief Executive Officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Zambia.

The MOU was signed by Hon. Felix Mutati, Zambia’s Minister of Technology and Science, and Nic Rudnick, Group Deputy Chairman of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, on Tuesday, the 7th of March, during the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), which took place in Doha, Qatar, from the 5th to the 9th of March.

With the signing of this MOU, Liquid Zambia reaffirms its commitment to Zambia’s digital transformation and economic growth, which is part of its broader mission to connect Africa and bridge the digital divide across the continent, leaving no African left behind.

Through this partnership, Liquid Intelligent deployed Nokia’s innovative transport network technology in the new terrestrial fibre route connecting Mombasa (Kenya) to Johannesburg (South Africa).

This announcement comes in light of the imminent launch of the new terrestrial data superhighway built by Liquid, connecting Kenya and South Africa. The technology used has allowed Liquid to build its first terrestrial route that will provide 12 terabits of capacity for carriers and service providers in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC. The route, which measures 16,576 km, has been designed to cater to the demand for more capacity from Liquid’s hyper-scale customers.

Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President and  CEO of Cassava Technologies, says, “As a business of Cassava Technologies, Liquid is committed to enabling a digitally connected future for every business and individual in Africa. We are proud to partner with Nokia as we expand our high-speed fibre backbone on the continent. This investment further demonstrates our commitment towards Africa’s inclusive digital transformation”.

In addition, the route will provide thousands of businesses and millions of households in many of Africa’s landlocked cities, towns and villages with more resilient connectivity and access to numerous data centres and cloud resources. At the same time, providing an alternative option in case of a subsea cable outage between the two countries.

Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of Central East and West Africa (CEWA) Market Unit at Nokia, said, “Nokia’s next-generation optical network will enable Liquid Intelligent Technologies to maintain its leadership position and emerge as a preferred partner of organizations requiring massive capacity. We are delighted that our technology and expertise will help Liquid Intelligent Technologies provide the best-in-class digital infrastructure to Africa’s enterprises and will play a role in strengthening the digital infrastructure of the continent”.

Shahzad Manzoor Khan, Group Chief Technology Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, adds, “Internet giants, established cloud service providers and other mega-organisations are demanding hyper-scale  data centres that can support high levels of performance, spikes in demand, and redundancy while enabling massive availability. Our new terrestrial fibre corridor is the first of its kind in Africa in terms of distance and capacity”.

The new route is a validation for existing and potential customers that Liquid continues to deliver intelligent networks that provide increased redundancy and resilience.

“It is an exciting time for Africa Data Centres,” says Tesh Durvasula, the company’s CEO. “Our decision to build a data centre in Kigali was an easy one, given Rwanda’s robust economic recovery post the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government of Rwanda’s focus on digital transformation”.

This latest announcement adds to and complements our existing investments in Rwanda and elsewhere in East Africa. We will work closely with both public and private enterprises in Rwanda to ensure that they can harness the benefits of our data centre facility to enable the provision of digital services that Rwandan citizens need,” added Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President & CEO of Cassava Technologies.

According to Durvasula, “This new data centre brings three main benefits to the market – global standards, high quality of service and affordability. In addition, enterprises will achieve cost savings associated with building and maintaining their own facilities”.

Although Rwanda is a landlocked country in East Africa, there is stable network connectivity and infrastructure connecting it to Uganda and from there to the Kenyan coast into Uganda. Africa Data Centres will ensure that Rwanda becomes part of their ecosystem in East Africa by connecting the new data centre to their site in Nairobi

Speaking of the need for colocation services in the country, Durvasula says the local enterprise market is eager to benefit from Africa Data Centres’ colocation services and a stable data centre environment. “They will also be able to make the most of global connectivity through a range of global service providers and cloud service providers”.

Ultimately, Africa Data Centres wants to extend the same experience to clients in Rwanda as it does in other countries by building a world-class ecosystem to which the Rwandan market can connect.

As a one-stop shop technology company offering high-speed connectivity, cloud and cyber security services with unmatched resilience and scalability, Liquid Intelligent Technologies entry into Nigeria will give new impetus to the country and region’s digital transformation journey.

“We were the first African company to lay over 100,000 km of fibre network across the African continent, and we plan to extend our reach into Nigeria. Expanding our operations here reiterates our interest in working with the government to achieve the objectives of Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (2021 – 2025) and to transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy, a vision enshrined in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020 – 2030).

Through our expertise, we will work towards ensuring that businesses and individuals can add to the growing digital economy setting Nigeria on its path to transform into a tech powerhouse in Africa,” says Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President & CEO of Cassava Technologies.

The acceleration of digital transformation and the rising demand for cloud services has made Nigeria ripe for investment for Liquid Intelligent Technologies. Its world-class infrastructure and scalable digital services help Nigerian businesses create jobs and opportunities, thereby reducing poverty. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is committed to playing its part as a critical driver in the country’s economic and societal growth.

According to Wole Abu, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Nigeria, “Access to new and innovative technologies and high-speed connectivity has changed how organisations work across the continent. West Africa boasts the largest connectivity on the continent, connecting Nigeria locally and internationally. Liquid’s Intelligent Technology brings de-facto means of backhauling traffic within middle-mile networks, allowing the effective deployment of broadband networks in Nigeria and the rest of the region”.

Through partnerships with international tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, AWS, and Oracle, Liquid Intelligent Technologies is redefining network, cloud and cyber security offerings, bringing innovative business applications, intelligent cloud services and world-class security to Nigeria.

In addition, the company’s pan-African footprint uniquely positions it to utilise its infrastructure to accelerate the availability of new intelligent technologies, including the high computing power of the cloud, artificial intelligence and cyber security services to customers.   

“In the last two years, we have seen Nigeria benefit exponentially as businesses transformed digitally. The need now is to elevate local businesses with increased access to digital solutions that will level the playing field compared to their European and US counterparts. In addition, the expertise we have garnered in the last two decades of partnering with businesses in other African countries will play a crucial role as we provide companies with the necessary tools to enable further growth,” says Abu.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a company built by Africans for Africans and looks forward to partnering with the public and private sectors to offer digital services to the widest possible client base on the continent. The organisation will replicate the success that it has realised for its customers in other countries by bringing its world-class services to the doorsteps of Nigerian businesses and individuals.

The business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, will leverage subsequent disbursements from DFC to broaden its data centres footprint in other DFC-eligible African countries. 

ADC is executing an ambitious plan to build data centres in ten of Africa’s largest economic capitals, including Abidjan, Accra, Lagos, Cairo, and Casablanca. And to existing data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town, further cementing ADC’s position as Africa’s largest operator of a pan-African network of interconnected carrier-neutral data centres.

Commenting on the expansion of the data centre operations in South Africa, Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centre, said, “The increasing demand for cloud and other digital technologies on the continent has directly increased the demand for African data to reside within the continent. This means Africa needs more data centres. We are pleased that our data centre expansion programme in South Africa funded by DFC will cater to the growing demand in the country”.

“This investment by DFC follows our recent announcement of the USD 50 million investment by C5 Capital into Cassava Technologies and a partnership to build Cyber Security Operations Centres across six markets in Africa. Through these investments, Cassava Technologies is building Africa’s digital infrastructure to enable accelerated economic development and ensure a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, President & CEO of Cassava Technologies.

“Africa has unrealised economic potential that will be unlocked by this investment from DFC. We look forward to working closely with DFC to overcome Africa’s digital infrastructure deficit and accelerate the adoption of cloud services and digital applications across all industries, further making the continent a competitive destination for international investment,” concluded Pemhiwa.

The investment, which is part of a larger funding round targeted at accelerating Cassava’s growth, will contribute to the achievement of the company’s goal to increase digital connectivity and inclusion on the continent. 

Cassava will be the go-to-market partner in Africa for C5’s cutting-edge portfolio companies to deliver best-in-class cyber security, satellite and space technology, as well as clean energy.

C5 and Cassava already announced a joint venture through which Haven Cyber, a C5 portfolio company. Cassava will scale Microsoft’s suite of cybersecurity products across Africa to help combat the threat of cybercrime.

According to Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Cassava Technologies, “This investment from C5 is part of our plan to raise additional growth capital whilst diversifying our investor base. We are delighted that C5 has joined us to help realise our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind”.

Cassava Technologies operates in more than 20 African countries and has been at the forefront of bringing innovative technology solutions to local businesses and individuals. 

Through its extensive offering that includes fibre networks, data centres, renewable energy, cloud and cyber security, and fintech and digital platforms, the company provides digital solutions to over 1 million enterprises and access to the internet for over 500 million people in Africa.

“We are delighted to partner with Cassava Technologies, to bring the most innovative cyber security, space and energy security products and services to African markets,” said André Pienaar, Chief Executive and Founder of C5 Capital.

Through the partnership between Haven Cyber (a portfolio company of C5) and Liquid Cloud & Cybersecurity (a business of Cassava), C5 and Cassava aim to bring expertise in cyber security to Africa by launching a network of state-of-the-art Cyber Security Operations Centres (CSOCs) across Africa. The CSOC network will enable the rapid delivery of cyber security services and operations on the continent. The first such CSOC is set for launch in South Africa later this year.

Pienaar continued, “Following the launch of Cassava Technologies’ cutting-edge Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) planned for Johannesburg later this year, we see tremendous growth potential for Cassava Technologies’ cyber security business to help protect African enterprises and communities.”

Hardy Pemhiwa, the President and CEO of Cassava, added, “Recent industry reports highlight that cyber security threats cost Africa close to US$4.1 billion in lost GDP in 2021. This is primarily due to the massive increase in the adoption of technology in businesses and governments across Africa and increased vulnerabilities as cyber-attack technologies evolve. Today’s investment from C5 and our pan-continental partnership will enhance our ability to enable our customers build secure and stable cloud-based digital services critical to transforming lives on the continent.”