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CSquared Celebrates Connecting Africa through 5 Remarkable Years of Success

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CSquared

This week the Management team of CSquared Group celebrates the company’s 5th Anniversary whilst in Cape Town, South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 7, 2022/APO Group/ — 

In Togo, Société d’Infrastructures Numériques (SIN) and Csquared (https://www.CSquared.com/) formed a joint venture (http://bit.ly/3FOSsfb) in a major digital infrastructure transformation initiative that lands Google’s Equiano Cable in Togo. In Liberia, CSquared and USAID enter into a new partnership to construct an open access fiber backbone connecting Liberia, Ivory Coast & Guinea. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), CSquared now operates 100km of fiber in Kinshasa with Africell as anchor customer. An MoU with Société Congolaises des Postes et Télécommunications (SCPT) will land the country’s 2nd Submarine cable and enhance the National fiber backbone network. CSquared embarks on building its West Africa terrestrial backbone, starting with a partnership with the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) (http://bit.ly/3Teq4WH) connecting major cities within Ghana and neighbouring countries. Across Africa, our Cloud Services team is connecting customers to the public cloud providers via leading data centers (PAIX, iColo, Raxio, ADC, Terraco, MainOne, ONIX), providing simplified & tailored access to multi-cloud services.

This week the Management team of CSquared Group celebrates the company’s 5th Anniversary whilst in Cape Town, South Africa attending AfricaCom (http://bit.ly/3f22ajn) – Africa’s leading digital infrastructure gathering that brings together decision makers across the communications technology ecosystem focused on connecting the next billion people on the continent by inclusive, sustainable growth through tech investments.

Commenting on the Anniversary and the company’s achievements Lanre Kolade, CSquared Group Chief Executive Officer shared “It is not just a company anniversary but a family anniversary that has defied all odds to grow stronger and achieve great things together. I am so grateful to my team, our customers and partners, for their support and trust have been the biggest driver towards our continued growth. For emerging markets to fast track their development, communication is key, and the foundation of reliable communication is broadband infrastructure. Countries are now moving towards e-governance, e-health, e-education and those pillars cannot be achieved without the required infrastructure. That’s the gap CSquared aims to fill, ensuring that all African countries have sufficient broadband infrastructure. Our approach ensures that everyone, both the private and the public sector benefits from the infrastructure that is rolled out by CSquared.”

This year the African Development Bank (AfDB) estimated Africa’s infrastructure financing needs to be as much as $170 billion a year by 2025, with an estimated gap of about $100 billion a year. CSquared and its investors Google, Mitsui & Co (Japan), Convergence Partners (South Africa) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group) play a critical role in supporting Africa achieve its ambitious digital needs.

A great deal has been achieved since 2017 when CSquared, originally a pilot project [Project Link (https://bit.ly/3ta4ZSR)] in Google, became an independent company with existing operations in Uganda and Ghana.

Fast forward 5 remarkable years of success:

TOGO

In March 2022, in the sunny city of Lomé, Togo, CSquared and Société d’Infrastructures Numériques (SIN), a public telecommunications asset company, announced a strategic partnership to create a joint venture (JV) – CSquared Woezon. CSquared Woezon is a Togolese company with a minority public shareholding, 56% owned by CSquared and 44% owned by SIN. The entity is in charge of maintaining and operating Cable Landing Station for Equiano, Google’s subsea internet cable running from Portugal to South Africa with Togo as its first landing in Africa; as well as the existing Lomé metropolitan optical fiber network [e-Gouv]; and the national fiber backbone network [Communauté Electrique du Bénin (CEB)].

This JV demonstrates the company’s commitment and unique ability to partner with African Governments to achieve their national digital development goals. Public Private Partnerships hold the key to upgrading broadband infrastructure to next generation networks and driving the future advancement of ICT in emerging markets.

It is not just a company anniversary but a family anniversary that has defied all odds to grow stronger and achieve great things together

LIBERIA

CSquared is excited to announce today a new partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a 350 km national fiber backbone in Liberia, extending from  the nation’s capital city, Monrovia to the Ivory Coast and Guinea borders, crossing more than 13 cities, and enabling the country’s Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) to reach over one million Liberians and 50+  businesses and social institutions. The backbone will also provide Liberia with critical redundancy to the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable, currently the nation’s single source for international bandwidth and will become part of CSquared’s West Africa backbone carrying traffic from Liberia through to Nigeria.

This follows CSquared’s hugely successful partnership in 2017 with the Government of Liberia and USAID to bring best-in-class, reliable broadband infrastructure to Monrovia and its environs. The new partnership falls under USAID’s Digital Invest program, part of the U.S. Government’s Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership and a flagship project of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment announced by President Biden in June 2022. These interventions are crucial to helping USAID fulfill its mission to help Liberia end extreme poverty and build resilient democratic institutions and to build open, inclusive, and secure digital ecosystems.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The company’s focus has also shifted to include Africa’s 2nd largest country by land mass, DRC, where at a recent World Bank connectivity conference held in Kinshasa, it was estimated that between 8 to 9 billion US Dollars will be needed to fully fiberise the DRC. CSquared with its development partners intends to significantly participate in this funding opportunity. In October, CSquared kicked off this commitment with the signing of two major deals.

The first was an MoU with SCPT (Société Congolaises des Postes et Télécommunications), enabling the Government’s goal of driving the country’s digital transformation by leveraging government assets through Public Private Partnerships. Our Accord Cadre will initially have 3 key components: to facilitate the landing of a 2nd Submarine Cable in DRC similar to our successful collaboration with Google and the Government of Togo landing Equiano in Lomé, Togo; the construction of a second Cable Landing Station [CLS] to connect to the Equiano Cable; and to expand and upgrade the National Fiber backbone network.

The second was with Africell, CSquared’s first anchor customer in DRC. Africell is a fast-growing mobile network operator with a pan-African footprint. Providing fast and reliable mobile network coverage and related technology services to over 16 million subscribers with a mission to make a positive everyday difference to customers, Africell and CSquared partner to impact lives through the provision of affordable, accessible and good quality telecoms products and services.

CLOUD

In the cloud connectivity and data center ecosystem, CSquared is a forward-thinking enabler. As an open-access network provider, CSquared has partnered with carrier-neutral data centers to make reliable connectivity available on demand to all ISPs and MNOs, who access large amounts of critical data in these data centers and the public cloud. These providers can then focus on delivering quality services to their end users while benefiting from our open access network, providing wide and seamless coverage to data centers and hosting facilities across the continent. A data center located PoP caters for layering Cloud offerings to provide simplified and tailored access, migration & consumption of multi-cloud services to businesses cost effectively to drive digital transformation across Africa.

Africa is undergoing impressive urban growth and is envisioned to reach a population of 2.4 billion people within the next few decades, favouring cities over rural areas. By 2030, it is expected that 6 of the world’s 41 megacities will be African. The urbanization process undoubtedly has the power to transform an economy. However, it also comes with a set of challenges such as the need for mobility and access to urban services, access to clean water and sanitation, public health, safety issues as well as policy-related matters.

Lanre Kolade remains enthusiastic about the company’s future and its role in directly tackling this challenge because as he states “If there is one thing CSquared has proven over the past 5 years, it is that we build broadband-enabling infrastructure for the future that guarantees a better, safer, faster customer experience, democratizing connectivity and achieving #InternetForAll. Get ready Africa, the future is promising and exciting.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of CSquared.

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Morocco: African Development Bank Mobilises €205 Million to Extend High-Speed Rail Line and Strengthen the Kingdom’s Mobility and Logistics Competitiveness

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July 10, 2026

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African Development Bank

By improving travel flow between the Kingdom’s major economic and urban hubs, the project will promote more sustainable mobility and enhance territorial connectivity

RABAT, Morocco, July 9, 2026/APO Group/ –The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) approved €205 million in financing for Morocco to support the implementation of the Rail Infrastructure Development Support Project (PADIF) on 8 July.

 

The operation aims to strengthen the capacity and operational performance of the Kenitra–Marrakech railway corridor, which carries a significant share of the country’s passenger and freight traffic. It will do so by extending the high-speed rail line (HSR) and upgrading the existing railway infrastructure along this strategic corridor.

 

By improving travel flow between the Kingdom’s major economic and urban hubs, the project will promote more sustainable mobility and enhance territorial connectivity.

 

Beyond its positive impact on mobility, the project will support the transition to more sustainable and environmentally friendly transport modes and deliver significant economic benefits by reducing travel times and logistics costs.

 

In the long term, it will strengthen Morocco’s logistics competitiveness and reinforce its role as a strategic hub linking Europe and Africa

“By combining the extension of the high-speed rail line with the modernisation of existing infrastructure, this operation will help accommodate growing passenger and freight traffic, facilitate trade flows, and reduce travel times,” said Achraf Tarsim, Head of the African Development Bank Group’s Country Office in Morocco. “In the long term, it will strengthen Morocco’s logistics competitiveness and reinforce its role as a strategic hub linking Europe and Africa.”

 

The project includes the acquisition of equipment to modernise railway infrastructure along the Kenitra–Marrakech corridor and around the Casablanca rail hub. This includes the supply of new rails and track components for conventional rail lines and the high-speed network, to increase corridor capacity and sustainably improve operational performance.

 

PADIF also incorporates a project management support component covering project ownership, engineering supervision, and the monitoring and evaluation of results and impacts, ensuring effective implementation.

 

By contributing to the development of resilient, sustainable, and high-value-added infrastructure, the operation is fully aligned with the African Development Bank Group’s Four Cardinal Points (https://apo-opa.co/4vWv2Mb) and the institution’s 2024–2029 Country Strategy Paper for Morocco. It also supports Morocco’s New Development Model and the Rail 2040 Plan, which aims to modernise the national railway network.

 

Since 1978, the African Development Bank Group has mobilised nearly €15 billion to finance more than 150 projects and programmes in Morocco. Its interventions (https://apo-opa.co/4wd803P) span strategic sectors, including transport, social protection, water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, governance, and the financial sector.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

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Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE) Launches Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Angola’s Largest Telecommunications Company

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July 10, 2026

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IGAPE

The transaction comprises the sale of 7,500,000 ordinary registered book-entry shares, representing 15% of UNITEL’s share capital, each with a nominal value of AOA 5,000.00

LUANDA, Angola, July 9, 2026/APO Group/ –The Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE) (https://IGAPE.MinFin.Gov.ao), acting as the selling shareholder, launched the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of a 15% stake in UNITEL, marking one of the largest capital market transactions ever undertaken in Angola.

 

The transaction comprises the sale of 7,500,000 ordinary registered book-entry shares, representing 15% of UNITEL’s share capital, each with a nominal value of AOA 5,000.00. Upon completion of the offering, all 50,000,000 shares, representing the company’s entire issued share capital, are expected to be admitted to trading on the Angola Debt and Securities Exchange (BODIVA).

The final offer price will be determined within a price range of AOA 36,036.00 to AOA 40,040.00 per share. The price will be set following the bookbuilding process, based on investor demand during the subscription period.

The IPO comprises two tranches. The Employee Offering reserves 1,000,000 shares, representing 2% of UNITEL’s share capital, for preferential subscription by eligible employees. The General Public Offering comprises 6,500,000 shares, representing 13% of the company’s share capital, together with any shares remaining unsubscribed under the Employee Offering.

The subscription period opens at 2:00 p.m. on 6 July and closes at 3:00 p.m. on 24 July 2026, allowing retail, corporate and institutional investors to participate in what is expected to be a landmark transaction for Angola’s capital market.

Investors may submit subscription orders through the participating financial intermediaries: BFA Capital Markets, Áurea SDVM, Distribuidora Valor SDVM, Eaglestone SDVM, Standard Invest SDVM and Hemera Capital Partners Securities. Orders may also be placed through Banco Caixa Geral Angola and Banco de Fomento Angola via their branch networks, digital platforms, websites, telephone banking services and email.

With more than 21 million customers and operations across all 18 provinces of Angola, UNITEL has been the country’s leading telecommunications operator for the past 25 years. The IPO provides Angolan citizens and investors with the opportunity to become shareholders in one of the country’s most established companies and to participate in its future growth while supporting the continued development of Angola’s capital market.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE).

 

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Ancient Port, New Voyages: Ningbo’s Smart Manufacturing Expands Global Trade Footprint via Maritime Silk Road

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July 10, 2026

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China

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA- Media OutReach Newswire – 9 July 2026 – On July 4, 2026, the cultural exchange event Encounter & Insight: Dialogue Between Ningbo, China and Colombo, Sri Lanka took place in Colombo.

Separated by thousands of miles, the two millennia-old port cities reconnected, leveraging their ports as a bond and cultural exchanges as a cohesive force to hold in-depth talks on integrated port-city development and bilateral economic and trade connectivity.

This cross-Indian Ocean dialogue echoes the ancient Maritime Silk Road while charting a brand-new outbound development path. As a pivotal starting port of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Ningbo is building a new global trade landscape powered by smart manufacturing.

A thousand years ago, merchant vessels from Mingzhou Port set sail southward loaded with Yue Kiln celadon porcelain, passing through Ceylon to deliver Oriental crafts across the Indian Ocean coasts. Precious gemstones and spices traveled the same sea route back to regions south of the Yangtze River, laying the groundwork for the earliest cultural exchange between the two ports through trade. Today, the cargo carried by giant cargo ships has undergone a dramatic transformation. Beyond traditional daily necessities, intelligent equipment, digital home appliances and industrial robots now dominate shipments.

Official statistics show that Ningbo’s exports of intelligent equipment, including mechanical arms and industrial robots, hit 440 million yuan in 2025, surging more than 40% year-on-year. From January to May this year, Ningbo’s exports of mechanical and electrical products maintained steady growth, reaching 247 billion yuan, a 4.1% year-on-year increase and accounting for 58.0% of the city’s total export volume. The new energy foreign trade sector saw explosive growth, with exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products jumping 138.4% year-on-year, with electric vehicle exports skyrocketing 215.9%. Smart manufactured goods are continuously expanding the scope of Ningbo’s foreign trade.

Complementing the Colombo forum, an exhibition highlights Ningbo’s outstanding going-global enterprises and their products, vividly illustrating the profound shift in Ningbo’s trade structure.

Alongside time-honored Maritime Silk Road staples such as celadon porcelain and silk, Ningbo’s smart manufactured products—including AI translation glasses, intelligent outdoor gear and digital small home appliances—occupy prominent display spaces across the venue. In Sri Lanka, Ningbo smart water meters are widely adopted nationwide, while handheld cooling fans and intelligent kitchen appliances have entered ordinary households.

Leveraging Colombo Port’s transshipment advantages, massive volumes of Ningbo smart manufactured goods are distributed onward to Europe, the Middle East and beyond. What Ningbo exports today is no longer mere commodities, but a complete outbound solution integrating technology, brand value and after-sales services.

Faced with mounting challenges including homogeneous global market competition and rising trade barriers, Ningbo’s manufacturing sector has abandoned the old model of low-cost OEM production, relying on intelligent transformation to consolidate its competitive edge in overseas markets.

Over more than a decade of digital transformation efforts, Ningbo has achieved full digital upgrading of all industrial enterprises above designated size. A large number of local factories have built unmanned black-light workshops and flexible production lines, escaping vicious price competition through continuous technological iteration. Represented by five specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative enterprises dubbed Ningbo’s “Five Little Tigers”—famous for their core proprietary technologies, including highly sophisticated visual inspection equipment, heat-resistant materials, sun-proof coatings, puncture-proof materials and self-drilling fasteners—these niche manufacturers have developed differentiated technical routes and full-spectrum production capacity, cementing irreplaceable competitiveness for Ningbo smart manufacturing on global markets.

Beyond trade expansion, Ningbo has built a supporting cultural communication system to ensure “products go global, accompanied by local culture”.

The launch of Sri Lanka’s first “One-Meter Cultural Space” cultural station during the Colombo event marks a tangible milestone of Ningbo’s go-global initiative. Built on enterprises’ overseas outlets, these miniature cultural exhibition halls integrate intangible cultural heritage crafts, urban stories and smart products, enabling overseas clients to experience cutting-edge manufacturing while gaining insight into Ningbo’s profound cultural heritage.

During the twin-city story-sharing session, Ningbo entrepreneurs based in Sri Lanka and local designers blending Chinese and Sri Lankan aesthetics shared stories of bilateral exchanges. Economic and trade ties have evolved into a bond for people-to-people communication, bridging divides in cross-cultural trade.

From Tang-dynasty celadon porcelain sailing across the Indian Ocean to intelligent equipment shipping to every corner of the globe, Ningbo, the ancient Maritime Silk Road port, has preserved its enduring gene of openness. Where exchanges once relied purely on commodity trade, today smart manufacturing underpins a stable, diversified and high-value-added global trade network.

The Ningbo-Colombo dialogue stands as a vivid microcosm of this transformation: the port still links lands and seas, yet the core of its trade has undergone a full intelligent upgrade.

Rooted in its historical legacy as a key Maritime Silk Road hub, Ningbo has consolidated its industrial foundation through a decade of digital development, expanded global market reach via worldwide port networks, and softened trade cooperation through cultural exchanges. This brand-new outbound shipping route forged by smart manufacturing has not only reshaped the city’s foreign trade landscape, but also delivered a replicable port-city development model for Chinese manufacturing to go global.

 

 

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