Allied Mobile Africa and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) have signed a strategic finance and partnership agreement for a debt funding facility worth $55 million. According to an announcement by Allied Mobile Africa the facility will be used to drive the company’s growth in South Africa as well as their expansion on the rest of the continent.

Dr. Daniel Matjila, Chief Executive Officer of the PIC says the deal with the cellular product distributor and 3rd-party logistics provider is aimed at development for the region as a whole.

“Communications remains an important element for the economic growth of any country. We are, therefore, happy to provide funding that seeks to unlock economic potential of countries in which Allied Mobile Africa operates. Our funding supports our objective of investing towards development here in South Africa and the rest of the African continent,”

Jacqueline Cole-Courtney, Allied Group’s Chief Executive Officer confirmed her company’s plan to grow their presence in the region.

“Allied’s objective is to be present in every country in Africa and the recent funding from the PIC will assist us in achieving this. Our geographical expansion program is being conducted in a very cost-effective and efficient manner, as the core operations are run from Allied’s existing Sub-Saharan offices which include eight major hubs and four repair centres located throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with certain central core functions located in a centralised offshore office, which eliminates the need to duplicate functions,”

Allied Mobile has been a player in Africa’s telecommunications industry since 2003. The company says the new funding from the PIC means it is well-positioned to capitalise on associated future opportunities.

Countries like Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Angola, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Kenya present ample opportunity for growth according to Allied Mobile which predicts sales volumes to grow between 15% and 20% annually in these countries. The company has indicated that it would leverage its leadership position in South Africa and other existing markets in addition to rapidly expanding its presence into the high-growth African countries it has named.

“Since these countries are at different economic and technological stages in the development cycle, Allied has to approach these markets with a tailored product offering and a strategy to address specific local needs,”said Cole-Courtney.