IFC plans $400m spending on new African telecoms projects
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) says it plans to spend up to $300 million in the financial year ending June and another $400 million in the following year on new African telecoms projects that are not commercially attractive to traditional financiers, the Reuters News Agency reports November 10, 2011.
Reuters quotes Mr. Kent Lupberger, IFC’s global head for Technology, Media and Telecom in an interview, as saying “We would very much be looking to do $200-$400 million a year for our own account in Africa and ideally helping mobilise funding from other sources — commercial banks, other development institutions — to double or triple that.”
The World Bank Group member this year syndicated a loan for Vodafone Ghana to help the company expand its operations in the country.
Mr. Lupberger, according to the publication, said it is focusing on newer business opportunities such as data centres, so-called last mile broadband connectivity, tower sharing, IT services among others.
By Ekow Quandzie