Hard on the heels of its acquisition of Millicom’s Tanzanian operations, Axian Group has announced a major investment in the country and is apparently looking at more investment opportunities in the region.
According to Bloomberg, Axian Group plans to invest $500 million in Tanzania following the purchase of Millicom International Cellular’s Tanzanian operations, after which it now owns Tigo Tanzania and Zanzibar Telecom.
The massive investment, one of the biggest-ever in Tanzania’s telecommunications sector, will partly go to pay for infrastructure and financial technology. The fintech focus in particular may be significant. Tanzania’s mobile money subscriptions were just over 32 million in December, of which Axian can now boast 30 percent. Vodacom Tanzania has 41 percent.
Axian has made it clear that it wants to continue expanding in a region where it has invested in towers, undersea cables, data centres, financial technology and operators, as well as a number of non-telecommunications sectors. Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion, Senegal, Tanzania and Togo are the areas in which it can now boast a telecoms presence.
Axian is not just about investment plays, however. Late last week, according to the Togo First website, Axian, through its foundation and its subsidiary Togocom, signed a partnership convention with the NGOs Federation of Togo aligned with the implementation of two recently launched programmes.
Nunya Togocom and Lanmésén TMoney are social programmes aimed at bolstering education and health in Togo. With Nunya Togocom, Axian will focus on classroom-building in deprived areas. The programme with Lanmésén TMoney will focus on helping youths to focus on preventive healthcare through sports.
