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CSquared Celebrates Connecting Africa through 5 Remarkable Years of Success

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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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Hong Kong outlines strategies for deepening development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and enhancing green transformation

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September 23, 2026

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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 22 September 2026 – Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee announced the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) (2026-2030) and his fifth Policy Address on September 16, rolling out measures to further sharpen Hong Kong’s edge amid global competition, consolidate development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and promote green transformation.

Initiatives aim to support high-quality development of the GBA, align rules and mechanisms within the region, and promote cross-boundary collaboration.

 




 
 

“The HKSAR Government will continue its efforts in fostering synergistic development of the GBA,” said Mr Lee. “We will strengthen co‑operation in technological innovation, promote ‘hard connectivity’ in infrastructure, foster ‘soft connectivity’ by deepening the alignment of rules and mechanisms, and achieve ‘connectivity of hearts’ among residents of the three places.”

The HKSAR Government will continue to actively participate in the development of the various major co-operation platforms, including Qianhai of Shenzhen, Nansha of Guangzhou, Hengqin of Zhuhai and the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Co-operation Zone, to promote mutual benefits.

In terms of “hard connectivity” the HKSAR Government will support Nansha in its role as a high‑standard gateway for opening up, including encouraging the trade to participate in Nansha’s infrastructure development.

“To promote the co‑ordinated development of rail transit in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, we are pressing ahead with the Northern Link Project and the Hong Kong‑Shenzhen Western Rail Link (Hung Shui Kiu‑Qianhai), with target commissioning in 2034 and 2035 respectively, to fully connect the rail transit networks of Hong Kong and Shenzhen,” Mr Lee said.

Regarding “soft connectivity”, Mr Lee said the HKSAR Government will set up a Task Force to explore ways to advance the alignment of rules and mechanisms within the GBA.

To achieve “Connectivity of Hearts” among residents across the GBA, Hong Kong will strengthen co-operation between its higher education institutions and those in other GBA cities by establishing cross‑disciplinary partnerships, facilitating scientific research, knowledge transfer, and commercialisation, with a view to promoting high‑level research.

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Janice Tse, noted that the First Five-Year Plan clearly states that Hong Kong will participate in the development of the GBA into an international first‑class bay area and a world‑class city cluster with global influence.

“Hong Kong will forge closer alignment and synergy with the nine GBA cities in Guangdong Province and Macao, making full use of our respective advantages to jointly promote the high-quality development of the GBA,” Miss Tse said.

To foster financial development in the GBA, Hong Kong will continue to capitalise on institutional innovation, financial infrastructure upgrading and enhanced regulatory alignment to encourage the orderly flow of financial elements among GBA cities.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s Core Climate, in collaboration with the Guangzhou Power Exchange Centre, is working towards the pilot trading of national renewable‑energy, green electricity certificates in Hong Kong in 2026.

“On connecting the Chinese Mainland and the world, the HKSAR Government will continue to support green technology development through the HK$400 million (aboutUS$51 million) Green Tech Fund, leveraging Hong Kong’s function as a springboard for green technology and assisting national green technologies and products in going global,” said Hong Kong’sSecretary for Environment and Ecology, Tse Chin-wan. “On the development of hydrogen energy, we have participated in drafting national hydrogen energy standards with a view to helping these standards align with international practice.”

To meet the country’s “dual carbon” targets and fulfil Hong Kong’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality before 2050, the HKSAR Government steered the establishment of a production base for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Dongguan, leveraging the leading position of Hong Kong enterprises in the international SAF industry.

“By combining technology strengths with industrial foundation, Hong Kong and Guangdong will jointly develop a globally influential green industry,” Mr Lee said.

The HKSAR Government will take forward the construction of an SAF blending facility in Hong Kong to build an end‑to‑end SAF value chain and reduce logistics costs to make SAF prices more competitive. The target is to achieve an SAF consumption ratio of 1% to 3% for flights departing from Hong Kong International Airport in 2030.

Hong Kong’s Five-Year Plan promotes the integrated development of culture, sports, and tourism, to develop the GBA into a cultured bay area.

Under the strategic framework of the Agreement on Strengthening of Sports Cooperation and Promotion of Integrated Development, Hong Kong will deepen co-operation, and strive to co‑organise important regional and international single‑sport events. It will also strengthen cultural exchanges, pass on Cantonese opera and the characteristics of Lingnan culture, and promote the sales and cross‑boundary exhibition of Hong Kong publications.
 




 

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Alamein Africa Forum to bring together key political and business leaders

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September 23, 2026

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The forum is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future

CAIRO, Egypt, September 22, 2026/APO Group/ –The inaugural Alamein Africa Forum (https://AlameinForum.com/) will take place from October 2-4 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast in parallel with the 2026 African Union mid-year summit.

Established in response to a mandate from the African Union, which called for a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt, the inaugural edition will bring together Heads of State and official delegations as well as some key actors in business and finance.
 




 

The forum is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future.

The Alamein Africa Forum will serve as a pan-African platform bringing together the private sector, investment and financial institutions

The Presidents of Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Libya, Senegal, Somalia, and South Africa are expected in Alamein as well as President Al Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt who is the host of this year’s AU Mid-Year Summit. Business leaders from across the continent have confirmed their participation including Ralph Mupita, MTN; Idrissa Nassa, Coris Bank; Mohamed El Ketani, Attijariwafa Bank; Hichem Eloumi, Groupe Shakira; Wale Tinubu, Oando; and many more. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s biggest industrialist is also expected to attend, with the organisers hoping to set up a Business Advisory Council to help advance private sector priorities and investment throughout the continent.

Bringing together leaders in politics, business and policy from across the continent, the Alamein Africa Forum will provide a unique opportunity to shape Africa’s growth agenda by aligning policy and investment priorities, mobilising partnerships for implementation and strengthening financing and investment pathways. The private sector must become an integral part of Agenda 2063, the AU’s strategic 50 year masterplan to transform the continent.

Co-organised by the Government of Egypt, Afreximbank, the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, the Forum brings together Africa’s most influential decision-makers in an unprecedented alliance of public and private sector leadership.

Speaking on the imperative of the summit at a joint press conference by the government of Egypt and Afreximbank on Thursday, September 17 2026, Dr. Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Expatriates Abroad said (https://apo-opa.co/4ygiQag): “The Alamein Africa Forum will serve as a pan-African platform bringing together the private sector, investment and financial institutions, and representatives of various productive and service sectors, to strengthen direct links between companies and markets and decision making at the highest level.”

Continuing, he noted that the Alamein Africa Forum is part of a series of high-level African events that Egypt will host in early October, stressing that holding the forum reflects Egypt’s commitment to advancing continental economic cooperation

In his own comments, Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank described (https://apo-opa.co/4ygiQag) the Alamein Africa Forum as a pan-African platform for promoting intra-African trade and investment and connecting the business community and financial institutions with priority projects and investment opportunities in the continent.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Alamein Africa Forum.

 




 

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Afreximbank to hold first combined Trade Finance Seminar and Compliance Forum in Gaborone, Botswana

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September 23, 2026

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Organised in partnership with the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), the combined programme will take place at the Gaborone International Convention Centre in Botswana from 16 to 18 November 2026

CAIRO, Egypt, September 22, 2026/APO Group/ —

  • Landmark joint programme will connect trade finance and compliance expertise to advance intra-African trade.
  • The Compliance Forum will explore how stronger, more coordinated frameworks can deepen African economic integration and facilitate international trade.
  • The Trade Finance Seminar will bring together leading trade finance practitioners to explore solutions that can strengthen regional value chains, close Africa’s trade finance gap and support AfCFTA implementation.

For the first time, Afreximbank (https://www.Afreximbank.com/) will bring together two of its flagship annual knowledge-sharing and capacity-building programmes – the 2026 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar and the Afreximbank Compliance Forum, uniting industry leaders, policymakers and experts to strengthen trade finance, compliance and Africa’s economic transformation.

 




  

Organised in partnership with the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), the combined programme will take place at the Gaborone International Convention Centre in Botswana from 16 to 18 November 2026.

The joint Trade Finance Seminar and Compliance Forum will bring together Global Africa’s financial, regulatory, and trade communities to exchange knowledge, share perspectives, and explore how stronger trade finance and compliance frameworks can support trade, investment, industrialisation, and economic integration.

The Factoring Workshop on 19 November will extend the discussions to the role of factoring and other alternative trade finance solutions in supporting businesses and expanding access to finance.

Botswana is proud to partner with Afreximbank to host the Compliance Forum, Trade Finance Seminar and Factoring Workshop

The Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar 2026 (ATFS2026) will be held under the theme “Trade Financing in the AfCFTA Era: Resilient Value Chains, Infrastructure and Market Integration.” It will examine how trade finance can support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), strengthen regional value chains, finance trade-enabling infrastructure and accelerate economic integration across the continent.

Mr Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President, Global Trade Bank at Afreximbank, said: “ATFS2026 comes at a critical time for African trade. The AfCFTA is creating a larger and more integrated market, but its success will depend on our ability to finance the trade, value chains and infrastructure that connect African economies. By bringing together trade finance, compliance and market practitioners, we aim to turn that opportunity into more bankable transactions, stronger regional value chains and increased intra-African trade.”

Mr Keletsositse Olebile, Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre, said:

“This is an important opportunity for Botswana to welcome delegates from across Africa and beyond while showcasing our country’s warmth and hospitality.

“Botswana is proud to partner with Afreximbank to host the Compliance Forum, Trade Finance Seminar and Factoring Workshop. These events will highlight Botswana’s growing role as a regional trade and investment hub, as well as its commitment to advancing economic development and continental cooperation.”

The Afreximbank Compliance Forum 2026 (ACF2026) will be held under the theme “Better Compliance, Better Trade: Leveraging Compliance to Promote African Regulations that Advance Intra-African Economic and Trade Integration.”

Mr Idrissa Diop, Compliance Director at Afreximbank, said: “Compliance must be recognised not simply as a regulatory obligation, but as an essential enabler of trusted, resilient and sustainable trade.

“Through ACF2026, we aim to bring together the institutions shaping Africa’s financial and trade architecture to identify practical ways of aligning compliance standards, managing emerging risks and reducing unnecessary barriers to intra-African trade and business growth.

Further information about ACF2026 and ATFS2026 and registration can be found on the site https://apo-opa.co/4AsLd6p

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

 




 

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