 has raised $15 million to fuel its East African expansion and has acquired Habari){kind=link}
Mawingu, a Kenyan Internet Service Provider (ISP) has raised $15 million in debt and equity financing to fuel its East African expansion and has acquired Habari, an Arusha-based ISP with operations across 7 regions in Tanzania to accelerate its expansion drive.
With the acquisition, Mawingu will expand into Tanzania to provide affordable home Internet to underserved communities in East Africa. The acquisition is one-step closer for Mawingu to positively impact 1,000,000 East Africans by 2028.
According to Mawingu’s Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ramji: “Today marks an incredibly important day for the African telecommunications market. Mawingu has grown from a start-up to an established Kenyan telco player and now through the acquisition of Habari, a Tanzanian ISP, to expand both its footprint and impact in the East Africa region. Mawingu and Habari share the same values, strong financial metrics, and the same dedication to connecting the rural and peri-urban market. This acquisition, along with an additional $15 million of financing, will enable Mawingu to deliver its value proposition of affordable Internet connectivity to homes in Tanzania that has only connected 300,000 out of 14,000,000 homes.”
Mawingu raised KSh 1.9 Billion ($15 million) from the Africa Go Green Fund (AGG), managed by Cygnum Capital. AGG will provide KSh 1.4 Billion ($11 million) of long-term senior debt supported by an additional KSh 0.5 Billion ($4 million) investment from InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and from Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank FMO.
In February 2023, Mawingu closed $9 million Series B investment to support its roll out infrastructure across Kenya to increase access to affordable internet connectivity to undeserved households and businesses. The $9 million was to enable the company to expand to an additional 25 counties in Kenya after it had earlier raised $4.1 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to provide last-mile connectivity access to areas that cannot economically access the internet. In 2020, the firm raised undisclosed funding from Energy Access Ventures (EAV) and The Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) to bridge the digital divide, foster development and create opportunities for all.
Internet access has been shown to deliver benefits for education, employment, and income, as well as promoting wider economic development. However, in Kenya and Tanzania, rural customers tend to be unserved or underserved by existing broadband provision and access costs can be prohibitively high. To address this ‘digital gap,’ Mawingu builds, owns, and operates sustainable networks which can be deployed in challenging rural and peri-urban environments.
“We’re thrilled to support an ISP that’s not only expanding Internet access to remote communities but doing so with sustainability at its core. This investment aligns perfectly with Africa Go Green’s mission to back climate-friendly solutions that drive real change. This investment underscores our commitment to a climate-resilient Africa, where connectivity and sustainability go hand-in-hand to support economic growth and environmental stewardship,” said Laurène Aigrain, Managing Director of Africa Go Green Fund.
The Habari acquisition will enable Mawingu to enter the Tanzanian market, however, Mawingu’s ambition does not stop there. The company aims to deliver meaningful connectivity to communities across the entire East Africa region through a disciplined ‘buy-and-build’ strategy. The identification and acquisition of successful ISPs will rapidly broaden the scale of Mawingu’s impact, enabling the company to open opportunities for 1,000,000 people across East Africa by 2028.