Liquid is a privately owned company which was established in 2004 as an independent telecommunications provider of international, voice, internet and data transmission using fibre and satellite technologies. The company is ultimately owned by shareholders including Royal Bafokeng Nation, CDC Group, Gateway Partners, the Masiyiwa Family, and management.

IFC will be investing US$90 million in equity. The investment will be made through a mix of subscription to convertible preference shares and payment to certain holders of rights issue. Out of the total proposed investment (of US$90 million), approximately US$80 million would be injected into the company and the balance would be paid to certain shareholders.

The Project involves expansion of the Company’s data center operations across the African continent, including in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt.

The governance risk to development impact is deemed to be low to moderate given that the Company has in place highly formalized governance structures across its various entities, with a diversified and relatively independent board. The Company has developed a wide range of Corporate Governance/ESG policies, many of which are publicly available. These include a Code of Conduct (to which employees are required to adhere), HSE policies, and grievance policies.

This proposed investment has potential limited environmental and social risks and/or impacts, which are expected to be generally site-specific and largely reversible. Those risks and impacts can be readily addressed by adhering to recognized performance standards, procedures, guidelines and design criteria as described in the following sections. Thus, this is a Category B project in accordance with IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability.

The key E&S issues associated with this investment include i) adequacy of LTJ’s environmental and social management system and risk assessment and management procedures for both LTH and ADC operations; ii) assurance of fair, safe and healthy working conditions for employees and contractors, including, grievance management, health and safety, harassment and gender-based violence; iii) fire safety; iv) community health, safety and security; and (v) stakeholder engagement.