The Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund is loaning a combined 82.8 million dollars to two Africa focused telecom infrastructure companies, aiming to expand physical and digital network capacity across the continent. The fund will provide 32.8 million dollars to Eastcastle Infrastructure DRC to finance 728 new telecom towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with 50 million dollars to Liquid Intelligent Technologies to refinance and future proof its pan-African fiber optic network spanning 110,000 kilometers.
These parallel investments reflect the fund’s strategic focus on reducing risk and scaling the infrastructure underpinning Africa’s rapidly growing digital economy. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mobile internet penetration stands at just 17 percent and tower density remains among the lowest globally, at roughly one tower per 15,000 to 20,000 people compared to one per 600 people in the United States, the fund’s support for Eastcastle is intended to address infrastructure availability, which remains the primary bottleneck facing mobile network operators in the country. Around 70 percent of the newly financed towers will be located in rural and underserved regions, an approach expected to meaningfully improve connectivity access outside the country’s major urban centers. The transaction will also fund solar panel installations and lithium battery upgrades aimed at improving energy efficiency, reducing vulnerability to grid failures, and lowering Eastcastle’s reliance on diesel generators.
The fund’s 50 million dollar commitment to Liquid Intelligent Technologies forms part of a broader 450 million dollar restructuring and expansion package, designed to support the optimization of Liquid’s capital structure while maintaining its cross border fiber network across 25 countries, including Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Liquid’s network supports digital data storage and processing for major telecom operators, enterprises and hyperscale cloud providers operating across the continent, positioning the investment as support for infrastructure that underpins broader digital and cloud services across multiple African markets.
Martijn Proos, Co-Head of Emerging Market Alternative Credit at Ninety One, which manages the fund, said the commitments to both Eastcastle and Liquid reflect confidence in Africa’s digital expansion through localized access points working alongside pan-African connectivity corridors. The investments highlight a broader pattern of international infrastructure funds prioritizing sovereign digital assets across Africa, with reliable internet access increasingly viewed as a foundation for local enterprises to scale more effectively and support long term, productive employment across the region’s expanding digital economy.
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