Fast-growing pan-African telecommunications company Liquid Telecom, which is owned by Strive Masiyiwa’s Econet Group, looks set for an initial public offering next year, it was reported at the weekend.

The Financial Times quoted the Zimbabwe-born Masiyiwa, who is chairman of Econet, as saying that he is considering a separate listing for Liquid Telecom after spurning several multibillion-dollar offers for the company.

“We have received several unsolicited offers for Liquid, but we want it to remain an independent access provider for Internet in Africa,” the FT quotes him as saying. “We are going to raise more capital [to] strengthen its market leadership in this vital space.”

Econet has reportedly already appointed advisers for the listing, which is set to happen on one of Europe’s major bourses.

Liquid Telecom was founded in 2004 as a satellite and voice operator. It launched its first high-speed, cross-border fibre network in 2009 and today is one of the biggest long-distance fibre operators in Africa.

Its network spans 20 000km across Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Customers include big mobile operators such as Econet Wireless, Vodafone, Orange, Airtel and MTN. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media