EBRD Extends €270m Financing to Yas for Kenya, Senegal Network Expansion
The financing marks the EBRD's first investment in Senegal and its first local-currency and A/B loan structure in sub-Saharan Africa, backing Yas' 4G, 5G and fibre rollout across both markets.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a senior loan of up to €270 million to pan-African telecoms operator Yas to fund network expansion in Senegal and Kenya, the Bank announced.
The deal marks the EBRD’s first investment in Senegal and its first local-currency financing and A/B loan structure in sub-Saharan Africa, combining long-term debt, local-currency support and institutional capital mobilisation in a single transaction.
Yas, owned by AXIAN Telecom, will use the funding to expand 4G, 5G and fibre infrastructure across both markets. In Senegal, the financing supports network modernisation and accelerated fibre rollout. In Kenya, it backs the expansion of fibre infrastructure following Yas’ 2025 acquisition of Wananchi, targeting improved service quality and broadband availability in one of the region’s most competitive telecoms markets.
The committed facility totals up to €170 million, split between a €100 million EBRD A-loan, a B-loan of up to €50 million to be syndicated to institutional investors, and a local-currency facility of up to €20 million equivalent in Kenyan shillings. Amsterdam-based impact private credit fund ILX Fund will take a sizeable position in the B-loan. A further uncommitted facility of up to €100 million is available for future Yas acquisitions and capital expenditure across other EBRD countries of operation in the region.
EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said the transaction supports the Bank’s push to strengthen digital infrastructure investment. “By supporting long-term investment in critical digital infrastructure, we will help to build more resilient and competitive markets while mobilising additional capital from institutional investors to accelerate sustainable development and innovation,” she said.
Yas Group CEO Hassan Jaber described the deal as the largest financing the company has raised to date. “This is the largest financing our group has ever raised, and it will accelerate our 4G, 5G and fibre investments in Senegal and Kenya,” he said, noting that closing Africa’s mobile coverage gap — which still excludes roughly one in ten people on the continent – remains central to the deal.
ILX Fund Chief Investment Officer Kirstine Damkjaer said the fund’s participation reflects continued confidence in African digital infrastructure. “Africa is one of the fastest-growing digital markets in the world, with connectivity playing an important role in economic development, financial inclusion and job creation,” she said.
Yas operates in 11 markets across Africa and the Indian Ocean, spanning mobile and fixed networks, fintech services and digital infrastructure including towers, backbone networks and data centres. Senegal and Kenya became EBRD shareholders and countries of operation in 2025.
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