Liquid Intelligent Technologies and tower company Eastcastle have secured an $82.8 million financing facility from the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) to expand digital infrastructure across Africa.
The private debt facility, managed by investment management company Ninety One, allocates $32.8 million to Eastcastle Infrastructure's operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to scale its tower network from 1 072 to 1 800 sites, addressing network coverage challenges in rural and remote regions.
Liquid will receive $50 million as part of a broader $450 million financing package to expand its terrestrial fibre network across 110 000 kilometres in 25 African countries, including Kenya, SA, and Zimbabwe.
The fibre expansion provides critical transport infrastructure for data storage and processing across the continent, supporting major operators, enterprises, and hyperscalers.
"These parallel investments highlight EAAIF's strategic focus on de-risking and scaling the physical and digital networks that underpin the continent's rapidly growing digital economy," said EAAIF. "By targeting both localised tower access and cross-border fibre transport, EAAIF is addressing Africa's digital connectivity deficit."
Hardy Pemhiwa, president and group chief executive officer of Cassava Technologies, parent company of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, said: "This partnership with EAAIF represents both a financial and strategic milestone for Liquid. The strengthening of our balance sheet will be crucial to our cross-border fibre network and the continuation of Africa's digital growth story."
Peter Lewis, co-founder and director of Eastcastle Infrastructure, said: "The financing package will help scale our network of towers as we tackle the DRC's critical infrastructure bottleneck and continue to drive sustainable, energy-efficient connectivity."
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