Africa: Vodacom completes sale of operations in three African countries

Mobile phone operator Vodacom Group Ltd has completed the sale of its Business Africa’s operations in Nigeria, Zambia and Ivory Coast to inq. Holdings Limited (formerly Synergy Communications), a pan-African digital service provider platform owned by Convergence Partners.

Vodacom, which is majority-owned by UK giant Vodafone Group Plc, last June sold the Angolan assets of its Business Africa unit to Internet Technologies Angola, all part of a new reposition strategy recently unveiled by the South African-based firm for its markets in Africa.

A further acquisition by Convergence is planned in Cameroon pending regulatory approvals while Vodacom’s Ghanaian assets will be sold to Vodafone Ghana. The Business Africa operations offer business-managed services to enterprises in around 50 countries.

The telco will no longer directly service global enterprise customers in the markets covered in the agreements, but would continue to operate as a telecommunications network provider through local service provider agreements. “The transactions support Vodacom Group’s enterprise strategy in Africa, which has been refocused to grow and strengthen its core business,” the company said at the time.

For inq., the transaction grows its regional presence to 13 cities in 7 African countries. Under the inq. banner, the company will embark on the next phase of building a unified pan-African cloud and digital service provider, bringing to market a very relevant suite of next-generation technology solutions in the fields of Edge, Artificial Intelligence, NFV, and Cloud, Convergence said in a statement on its website.

“This represents a further milestone in our journey to create a group serving the enterprise community across sub-Saharan Africa with a uniform high quality of service and consistent product offering,” said Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners, a pan-African private equity player focused on information and communication technology infrastructure and services.

More so, the company is well-positioned to maximize opportunities that will come in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners and Executive Chairman of inq. “As global thinking is going through a reset because of COVID-19, inq. is ready to provide business continuity to our global and continental and local clients,” he said.

Founded in 2006, Convergence has over $300 million of capital under management and has partnered with several global operators, playing a leading role in landmark African ICT infrastructure investments.

The company has been involved in several projects that have changed the paradigm in pricing of broadband services and availability of reliable, quality networks, services and new technology offerings, such as SEACOM, the first undersea fibre system serving East Africa and CSquared, a broadband infrastructure company focused on building wholesale metro fibre optic networks and enabling internet access throughout Africa, in partnership with Google, Mitsui and the International Finance Corporation.