Firm Raises $120m for Digital Infrastructure in Africa

By Sodeinde Temidayo David

A private equity investor focused on the technology sector across sub-Saharan Africa, Convergence Partners, has raised $120 million to drive digital financial inclusion in Africa by putting in place digital infrastructure.

The funds raised from this exercise is the first close of its Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), which aims to secure a total of $250 million.

The company plans to use funds from the exercise to put in place fibre, wireless technologies, data centres and towers, as well as 5G, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), fintech and network virtualization across Africa.

CPDIF expects this money to boost entrepreneurship, innovation and skills development through augmenting access to the internet and all the critical digital tools it offers.

“We are delighted to have achieved this milestone particularly given the headwinds in African PE fundraising generally, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business activity, over the past 12 months.

“We are very pleased with the level of support from both repeat and new investors and believe this reflects our solid track record and the opportunity CPDIF presents at this crucial time in both a tech and African context,” the CEO of Convergence Partners, Mr Brandon Doyle, said.

On his part, the Chairman of Convergence Partners, Mr Andile Ngcaba, while commenting on the development, stated that, “In the past 20 years, we have witnessed the exponential growth of internet penetration on the African continent.

“Internet penetration in sub-Saharan Africa alone has grown tenfold, compared to the threefold increase the rest of the world has seen.

“As Convergence Partners, we pride ourselves on contributing to this growth through our numerous communication infrastructure investments across the continent.

“However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that there is still much work to drive digital inclusion. Today, Africa is experiencing the highest growth in international internet bandwidth compared to any other region in the world.

“As we embark on this journey as CPDIF, the next twelve years will be spent continuing to build on our original vision of ubiquitous pan-African communications. As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) commences in the same year, we embark on the next step of our journey as Convergence Partners.

“We believe that AfCFTA will benefit immensely from the availability of digital infrastructure. Our greatest strength is our knowledge of technology, investments, and deep understanding of the African market and cultures.”