Fibre infrastructure provider Metrofibre Networx has received an equity investment from Stoa Infra & Energy. Stoa has acquired 23.1% of the South African open-access fibre network operator.

Stoa is a French company owned by Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) with a capital base of €600-million earmarked for investments in developing and emerging countries in the power, telecommunications and transportation sectors, with a strong focus on Africa.

Established in 2010, Metrofibre started operations as a fibre connectivity provider to South African medium to large companies. It has since expanded its service offering to residential customers.

In 2015, Metrofibre, which is led by former Absa Group CEO Steve Booysen, launched its home fibre offering, focused on the northern suburbs of Johannesburg and Pretoria. It has invested over R2-billion in its network.

To support its capital expenditure expansion plan, the current shareholders, which include Sanlam Life Insurance through its Sanlam Private Equity division and African Rainbow Capital Investment, agreed to contribute additional equity capital as well as attract a new investor.

Expansion

“The successful capital raising allows us to further expand our infrastructure and capabilities off an already strong base while growing rapidly to achieve mass scale in a highly competitive and fast-paced telecommunications sub-sector,” Booysen said in a statement.

“For our customers, this transaction means greater access to quality and reliable fibre Internet infrastructure and related products. For our colleagues, this transaction means greater career prospects as the business grows, and most significantly, it will result in the further creation of employment opportunities in a country that has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.”