International telecommunications group Econet Wireless Global has secured a US$500-million loan facility through Chinese multinational technology equipment supplier ZTE and China Development Bank for the procurement of network equipment.

The deal will facilitate equipment supply to Econet Wireless Holdings Limited in Zimbabwe, Econet Telecom Lesotho Limited and Econet Wireless Burundi SA.

According to Econet, some of the facilities might also be directed to its fibre optic network operator Liquid Telecom, which operates in 15 African countries. The telco is also looking into deploying the resources to develop its LTE networks, and also fifth generation networks to take advantage of the growth in data and converged financial services.

ZTE and Econet formally announced the framework agreement at a signing ceremony in Johannesburg yesterday, ahead of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) leader summit taking place on 4 and 5 December.

China's investment in Africa has been a focal point for leaders across the continent this week as news broke of several investment deals , reportedly valued at R94-billion, struck between South Africa and the Far East country.

South African president Jacob Zuma and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping confirmed the deals following bilateral talks at the Union Buildings in Pretoria yesterday.

ZTE, the China Development Bank and Econet have a long-standing relationship in place and according to Tracy Mpofu, CEO of Econet Wireless Group, access to this loan means that Econet can further its strategy to consolidate the convergence that is taking place within the telecommunications space in Africa, including banking, traditional voice and the Internet of Things.

Mpofu said "As a company we have received a lot of support from China over the last 15 years that we would not have got from anywhere else because of the difficulties of some of our markets. We appreciate this on our own behalf and also the customers we serve."

Huang Dabin, Senior Vice President of ZTE, signed the MoU on behalf of his company.

"We are a major vendor in the telecoms sector globally and we started our cooperation with Econet seven years back... at that time Econet was small and total customer base was less than one million. After seven years, now Econet has 16 million subscribers, a very big achievement....we are successful in deploying the project together. So today is also a new start for us and for the future, and we sign the MoU for the next five years, and we believe that Econet will become more influential and this is a win-win for us," said Sean Duan, chief representative at ZTE.