Subsea cable company SEACOM has announced that it will acquire selected infrastructure assets from now-defunct Africell in Uganda.
The acquisition SEACOM said in a statement marks a significant step for SEACOM and is a testament to the company’s commitment to providing, competitive end-to-end connectivity and ICT solutions across the region. It also comes just a few months after Africell exited the Ugandan market.
Africell Uganda said in a statement that the decision to leave Uganda ”…is based on a careful assessment of the long-term commercial outlook for the business and its fit within the overall group strategy of driving digital transformation in the communities we serve.”
SEACOM will now take over some of the assets previously owned by Africell in the country.
“East Africa has been an important market for SEACOM ever since we first arrived on the shores of Mombasa in 2009,” said Tejpal Bedi, Managing Director and Regional Head of Sales for SEACOM ENEA. “By officially establishing ourselves in Uganda through proprietary facilities and resources, we are prioritising widespread connectivity and opening up opportunities to work with businesses in search of quality Internet services.”
This latest expansion comes on the heels of SEACOM’s recent acquisition of Kenyan service provider Hirani Telecom’s metro fibre network. SEACOM is poised to take over a comprehensive portfolio of infrastructure essential for connecting enterprise customers. This includes 760 kilometres of fibre within the Ugandan capital city of Kampala and surrounding towns, a 250 square metre data centre, and office space for SEACOM representatives and staff members.
“The acquisition goes hand in hand with our five-year strategy into expanding operations in the region,” Tej added. “As such, we are very excited about having a greater local presence.”
SEACOM has provided wholesale solutions to Uganda since its inception in 2009, and corporate solutions since 2018. The leading service provider enjoys a large footprint in Uganda’s financial services sector (FSI) and works with government and non-governmental organisations, including those in the education, technology and hospitality sectors.
Although dominated by small businesses, Uganda is home to a thriving private sector with thousands of medium to large-sized businesses located primarily across Kampala and the central region. There’s also a growing Internet penetration rate with competitive connectivity prices as compared to other countries in the region.
The acquisition of established infrastructure will allow for further expansion into East Africa, enabling SEACOM to provide seamless integration of its services for clients across Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and decreasing the reliance on third-party last mile providers to deliver connectivity solutions – solutions that include wireless and fibre Internet access, cloud connectivity, as well as hosting facilities, such as email and security, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection software.
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