Vodacom Group has announced the sale of its business unit operations in Nigeria, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire to Andile Ngcaba’s Synergy Communications. The transaction is now subject to approval from the regulatory authorities within these markets.
Synergy Communications, a subsidiary of the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund, said on Friday that it had acquired 100% of Vodacom Business Africa’s operations in these markets.
Convergence Partners, which is owned by Ngcaba, is an investment management firm focused on the technology, media and telecoms sector in Africa.
As the chairman, founder and majority shareholder of Convergence Partners, Ngcaba is also involved in significant new communications infrastructure projects across Africa.
These include Seacom, Intelsat New Dawn, FibreCo, and, recently, a new joint venture with Google to invest in CSquared, a broadband infrastructure company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
This acquisition is a significant milestone in Ngcaba’s vision for Synergy Communication to be a leading provider of cloud and digitally based services in key markets across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Synergy Communications currently has operations in Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique, with flagship investments in Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi and Virtual Business Network Services in Botswana.
Said Ngcaba: “This is an exciting landmark transaction for Synergy Communications, providing us with additional momentum in the delivery of our strategy as a pan-African enterprise digital services provider. Synergy Communications will partner with major global cloud providers and deliver platform-based services to both multinationals and local enterprises.”
Announcing the deal, Vodacom said the transaction supports its enterprise strategy on the continent, which has been refocused to grow and strengthen the core business.
The telco will no longer directly service global enterprise customers in these three markets, but will continue to operate as a pan-African telecommunications network provider through local relationships like the one with Synergy Communications.
Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, said: “Vodacom has a clear vision for strengthening our position as a leading pan-African business and will work with local service providers like Synergy Communications to grow in these markets. Crucially, Vodacom is not exiting any of the territories related to this transaction and remains focused on continuing to deliver exceptional service to our global and multinational clients in these markets through long-term commercial agreements. To support the sustainable growth of pan-African digital economies and build connected societies, Vodacom will, via local service providers, continue to service clients in each market.”
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