Media

AFC-financed Main One Submarine Cable Lands in Ghana

19 May 2010

PRESS RELEASE

AFC-financed Main One Submarine Cable Lands in Ghana

Main One fibre optic cable to bolster connectivity and bandwidth

Accra, 19 May, 2010 – Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the lead investor in the Main One Cable Company today marked the final splice of the Main One submarine fibre optic cable system. This landmark project consists of a 7000-kilometre cable between Portugal, Ghana and Nigeria with branching units in Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. It is expected to enhance West Africa’s connectivity to Europe and other parts of the world. The second phase of the project will extend connectivity to South Africa.

The Main One Cable system will deliver 1.92Tbps of high capacity bandwidth - equivalent to ten times the available capacity of the existing fibre optic cable serving West Africa, and more than 20 times the satellite capacity currently available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

“As a pan-African financing institution, AFC is proud to be a partner in the Main One submarine cable project, an African-conceived and driven project, which will open and integrate the continent’s ICT markets and address the commercial imperative necessary to drive economic growth,” said AFC President and Chief Executive Andrew Alli.

Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company Limited said “AFC brings a combination of technical, institutional, regional and financial skills to the project, which will provide much needed telecommunications capacity in West Africa. We welcome their participation, which has made it possible to complete the necessary financing for the project’s implementation.”

About AFC

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is an African led financial institution with the mission to improve African economies by proactively creating, developing and financing infrastructure, industrial and financial assets. Among other projects in which it is involved, AFC is the lead investor in conjunction with Cenpower Generation Company Limited (Cenpower), which is implementing the $450 million Kpone IPP project – a 340 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Tema, Ghana. AFC is also the main African participant in a seven- year USD$ 750 million syndicated reserve base lending facility to develop the landmark Ghanaian Jubilee Oil Field - West Africa’s largest offshore deepwater find in over a decade. Ghana membership of the AFC is imminent and awaiting final ratification. AFC has also invested in and acquired a minority stake in the international firm Seven Energy Limited. Seven Energy, through its local subsidiary in Nigeria, Septa Energy Limited, is playing a critical pioneering role in developing gas for domestic use in Nigeria. Its operations are also expected to have a significant and positive effect on other key sectors of the Nigerian economy such as power.