The Wananchi Group, which owns Zuku Fiber, Zuku pay TV and Simbanet business
services brands, established itself in Nairobi, Kenya six years ago. On 6 October the
company announced it had secured $130 million which would go towards expansion in
East and Southern Africa. The capital investment was co-led by existing Wananchi
shareholders including Altice SA, Liberty Global, Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) and
ATMT, and new investors, Helios Investment Partners.
Richard Bell, vice chairman of Wananchi said, “We will continue the deployment of
Fiber to the home networks in more cities in East Africa and extend our business
services networks and product offerings across a wide variety of geographies and
market segments. With our stronger balance sheet we will also invest in exciting new
technologies and service platforms to improve the quality of our products and deliver
a superior experience for our customers.’
Richard Essex, a partner at shareholder East Africa Capital Partners (EACP), added,
“We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the US-government’s Overseas Private
Investment Corporation who has committed significant capital to support the ongoing
growth of the business since Wananchi was established.’
Dennis Aluanga, a partner at Helios, commented “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 many more tens of thousands of consumers across the
greater Eastern Africa region and beyond.”
