Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund II (PAIDF II), a fund managed by Harith General Partners, was the preferred bidder for the acquisition of a 60% stake as part of a competitive tender process organized by Ernst and Young. Other shareholders of OCL are the Press Corporation Limited (22%), Old Mutual Malawi (15%), the Malawian Government (2%), NICO Holdings (1%) and Investments Alliance (0.2%).  Since the acquisition by PAIDF II, the Company has benefited from significant capital injection for network upgrades and fiber deployment as well as increased company efficiencies and quality of services provided by the Company.

OCL owns and operates the largest fiber network in the country, nearing 3,800 km, which covers all four regions of Malawi. Since the country is landlocked, the network connects internationally via Mozambique and Tanzania, with a direct connection to two submarine cables – SEACOM and EASSy Cable. The Company provides lit and dark fiber services to Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Provider and terrestrial TV broadcasters in Malawi. With the new financing package, the Company intends to move facilitate the creation of wholesale services for the consumer market as well as for businesses and telecom towers requiring fiber connectivity. The Company will also run Malawi’s first independent Tier III data center in Malawi, which will be purpose-built for infrastructure sharing. Further, to reduce the cost of broadband in Malawi, the Company will acquire international wholesale capacity for distribution in Malawi.

The Total Project Cost is expected to be US$ 31 million. IFC is looking to provide an own account A Loan of up to USD 10 million in Malawian Kwacha (“MWK”). The financing package will include support from the IDA19 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window Local Currency Facility (“IDA-PSW LCF”) and Blended Finance Facility (“IDA-PSW BFF”) as described below. The remainder of the financing will be funded by equity.

OCL is a Malawian Based company with operational locations across the country.

 This is a Category B project, according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy (2012). Based on information reviewed during the appraisal, it is expected to have limited adverse environmental and social risks and impacts that are few in number, short-term and site-specific, and can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to recognized performance standards, procedures, guidelines and design criteria as described in the following sections.

Key E&S issues associated with the project and which were reviewed at appraisal included (i) adequacy of OCL’s environmental and social management system to guide effective management of E&S aspects of the business; (ii) adequacy of OCL’s organizational capacity to assess and manage E&S risks and issues associated with laying of the fiber infrastructure, construction and management of the data center and routine infrastructure maintenance activities; (iii) labor management and working conditions for direct staff and contract workers, especially on OHS, grievance management, management of all forms of harassment (including gender-based harassment) and equal opportunity; (iv) energy efficiency; (v) management of hazardous materials, fuel (for backup power) and wastes; (vi) security risks; (vii) land acquisition and land access; and (viii) the company’s stakeholder engagement mechanisms.