The US government's development finance institution, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC),and Microsoft have signed an agreement with Kenyan wireless internet provider Mawingu Networks Ltd that will pave the way for possible funding to the tune of $4million towards the company's free Wi-Fi project.

The Project is aimed at helping people living off-grid and in rural communities across Africa access affordable Wi-Fi.

OPIC president and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield is currently in Nairobi for the 2015 Global Entrepreneur Summit, and signed the OPIC mandate alongside Antony Cook who is Microsoft's head of legal and corporate affairs for the Middle East and Africa. Cook served as a witness to the mandate between OPIC and Mawingu.

"The development potential from creative private sector organisations like Mawingu captures the spirit and promise at the heart of this week's Global Entrepreneurship Summit," said Littlefield.

"Financial support at crucial stages of a company's business evolution can transform a great idea into a deeply impactful reality for millions in the developing world. By leveraging technology and ingenuity, Mawingu's massive reach to connect rural African communities to the Internet is just beginning, and I look forward to the growth and scalability of this model that OPIC financing can unlock." she added.

Microsoft's 4Afrika initiative were the initial funders of Mawingu Networks alongside USAID, an investment from Angel Investor Jim Forster, and early funding from Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Inc. whose grants enabled the company to establish their current operating model.

Mawingu provides connectivity access to areas that cannot economically access the Internet by using a network of solar-powered "nomadic" wireless internet stations.

In a statement OPIC said it is considering a $4 million loan which would allow a commercial expansion of a proven model to utilise existing technology of TV White Spaces (TVWS) connectivity for off-grid Internet access as done by Mawingu. This investment, it adds is driven by the promise of Mawingu's initial pilot operations.