Chapel Hill Denham’s Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) has agreed to provide long-term financing to Tizeti Network Limited (Tizeti) – West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet service provider to expand broadband network in Nigeria, driving digital inclusion
The senior debt facility will be used to finance the rollout of Tizeti’s state-of-the art broadband network across 15 states in Nigeria.
Anshul Rai, the CEO of NIDF, said, “Chapel Hill Denham is excited to partner Tizeti in the expansion of fast, reliable broadband network across Nigeria. 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 achieve the true potential of digitisation. 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 realising the government’s vision of reaching 70% broadband penetration by 2025.”
Tizeti’s founder and CEO, Kendall Ananyi, commented, “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 last-mile digital infrastructure that will move internet capacity to other Nigerian states and catalyse sustained development, value creation, improved connectivity, and a deeper and wider digital inclusion net. This will also increase our coverage from five states and make us the largest internet service provider in Nigeria by coverage”.
Tizeti currently serves over 3 million subscribers in Nigeria (residential facilities, businesses and hotspot users), via its wide network of solar-powered base stations in five states. The company will 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. Tizeti currently charges its customers a monthly fee starting from N12,500 (US$30) which is the most competitive price in Nigeria and provides unlimited data usage and streaming.
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.
