Liquid Telecom completes acquisition of CEC Liquid Telecom in Zambia to further strengthen its operations in Southern Africa

Liquid Telecom completes acquisition of CEC Liquid Telecom in Zambia to further strengthen its operations in Southern Africa

Liquid Telecom completes acquisition of CEC Liquid Telecom in Zambia to further strengthen its operations in Southern Africa

Lusaka, October 17, 2018

Liquid Telecom has completed the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent stake in its Zambian subsidiary, CEC Liquid Telecom, from Copperbelt Energy Corporation PLC.

The acquisition will help facilitate the group’s digital transformation strategy through an enhanced operating model and the benefit of 100 per cent of the cash flows from CEC Liquid Telecom and its retail arm, Hai Zambia.

“The acquisition of CEC Liquid Telecom represents another major milestone towards the delivery of Liquid Telecom’s vision to build Africa’s digital future,” said Nic Rudnick, Liquid Telecom Group CEO. “We have continued to expand the footprint of our network and broadened our award-winning product offering. These actions reinforce our position as a leader in cloud networking and digital transformation. We look forward to bringing the benefits of this acquisition to our valued clients across the region.”

By acquiring the remaining shares in the company, Liquid Telecom will be able to:

• Focus on growing its wholesale, enterprise and retail offering across Zambia, resulting in improved customer service and the delivery of new products. This includes cloud-based services such as Microsoft Office 365 and Azure Stack, which will now be hosted locally in Zambia for the first time.
• Invest further in its fibre network in Zambia, providing businesses and consumers with greater reach and network speeds across the country.
• Connect Zambia to Liquid Telecom’s “One Africa” broadband network, allowing access to the single largest independent fibre network on the continent – stretching all the way from Cape Town to Cairo.

Liquid Telecom and CEC first entered into the joint venture in 2011, and during this time it has invested in the rollout of a fibre optic network across Zambia that today delivers some of the country’s and Africa’s fastest broadband speeds.

Serving a range of wholesale, enterprise and retail customers, CEC Liquid Telecom recently launched a leading 4G LTE network in all 10 provinces of the country. Earlier this year, the company also began offering Microsoft Office 365 to businesses of all sizes in Zambia accessed through its leading-edge fibre network.

The Zambian operations will form a key part of Liquid Telecom’s focus on the Southern Africa region, alongside Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana.

Liquid Telecom Zambia will sit under the leadership of the new Regional CEO of Southern Africa, Wellington Makamure.