June 2012 Africa Investment Map

Nearly $2.4Bn of new investment in African telecoms infrastructure was announced in June 2012, making this the most lucrative month for the continent. Logically, this investment was concentrated on the most populous parts of the continent, with Nigeria (population c. 155Mn) and Democratic Republic of Congo (66Mn) taking $1.3Bn and $0.6Bn respectively for cellular network upgrades.

Most investments are currently focused on installation of 3G Node-B infrastructure and smaller - yet still meaningful - investments were announced in Liberia, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania and Namibia.

But possibly the most significant investment relative to the state of the market was in the world's newest country. ISP iBurst has commited around $1Mn to install fibre and switching in the capital, Juba. All of South Sudan's backbone and much of its access infrastructure was destroyed during the civil war, so this money, however small, is a significant step on the road to recovery.

That's all for June. Later this month I'll look at the first 6 months of the year and see whether the southerly drift of investment in the continent's infrastructure has continued.

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