Telkom Kenya secures $40Mn loan for network expansion

Telkom Kenya has secured a loan worth $40 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to improve and expand its network.
The funds will help the telco to increase its 3G and 4G coverage and invest in its Fibre-To-The-Building network, which will dramatically improve services to SMEs and corporate customers.
“In terms of how mobile services are used, we could say that Kenya is ahead of Europe, and both the market and possibilities are growing fast,” EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said. “We are happy to support Telkom’s growth strategy in expanding its 3G and 4G networks across the country.”
Read: Telkom Kenya Set for Aggressive Market Campaign to Gain Market Share
The credit agreement will be extended partially in U.S. dollars and partially in Kenyan shillings. “A large part of which will be disbursed in Kenyan Shillings, to minimize the risk of currency volatility for the Bank’s counterparts.” the EIB said.
In October, Telkom said it had invested close to KSh 9 billion in its network modernization programme, re-positioning our mobile and enterprise businesses, in addition to the rollout of their Mobile Financial Services platform, T-Kash.
Read: Telkom to lay off 500 employees in a strategic transformation phase
It also announced ongoing talks to become the landing partner for two other cables in Kenya. Further, its partnership with LOON (a sister company of Google) aims to deliver Internet to hard-to-reach areas in Kenya, a service that will be deployed in early 2019, is one such partnership.