Cairo, 06 September 2021: – 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.
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About Afreximbank: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. The Bank has a rich history of intervening in support of African countries in times of crisis. Through the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) launched in April 2020, Afreximbank has disbursed more than US$6.5 billion in 2020 to help member countries manage the adverse impact of financial, economic, and health shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has completed the development of a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Afreximbank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2020, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$21.5 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$3.4 billion. Afreximbank disbursed more than US$42 billion between 2016 and 2020. The Bank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com.
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