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Liquid Telecom acquires Tanzania’s ISP Raha

Business
Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom has completed the acquisition of Tanzania’s leading internet service provider, Raha.

Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom has completed the acquisition of Tanzania’s leading internet service provider, Raha.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

Liquid is a subsidiary of Econet Global and will strengthen Raha’s position in the Tanzania market through further investment in both its network and services.

Raha will become part of Liquid Telecom’s extensive fibre network, providing businesses with access to one single network that runs all the way from Cape Town up through Dar es Salaam and onto Nairobi, stretching over 40 000km and connecting 12 countries, it said.

“We welcome Raha as the latest exciting addition to the Liquid Telecom group. Tanzania is a rapidly growing and dynamic African market, and through this acquisition, we will be able to greatly support the demand for internet access across the country,” Nic Rudnick, Liquid Telecom group CEO, said.

Raha currently serves over 1 500 businesses, as well as a growing number of retail customers with a range of connectivity solutions, including fibre, satellite, WiMAX and WiFi.

Liquid Telecom plans to invest further in the rollout of fibre across Tanzania, enabling greater access to high-speed, reliable broadband for more businesses and households.

The rollout of new fibre will also help provide high-speed connectivity to more government schools across the country, supporting key education initiatives by the State.

Liquid Telecom also plans to significantly increase the number of free WiFi hotspots throughout Tanzania, helping to bridge the digital divide by providing more of the population with access to the internet.

Raha has already introduced over 150 free WiFi hotspots across all major cities in Tanzania, which are currently enjoyed by over 150 000 unique users.

Raha CEO Aashiq Shariff said with Liquid’s support, “Raha can explore new ways to increase connectivity within Tanzania as well as to the rest of the region”.

“We will also benefit from the group’s skills and expertise, helping us to achieve our vision of a more connected Tanzania,” Shariff said.

Liquid Telecom has built Africa’s largest single fibre network currently spanning over 40 000km, including Neotel’s network, across borders and covering Africa’s fastest-growing economies, where no fixed network has existed before.

Working under various brands, the Liquid Telecom Group has operating entities in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Raha was one of the first companies to bring internet to Tanzania, when it launched as a dial-up service in 1996.

It operates a 400km metro fibre optic network throughout the central business district of Dar es Salaam as well as other areas of the Tanzania capital.