AXIAN Telecom has secured $100 million from the European Investment Bank to double 4G coverage and accelerate 5G deployment across Madagascar and Tanzania, part of a broader European Union strategy to mobilize €150 billion for African infrastructure development by 2030.
The financing package, announced Thursday through EIB Global, the bank’s development arm, allocates $60 million to Tanzania and $40 million to Madagascar, where AXIAN operates under its Yas brand. The investment will expand mobile broadband infrastructure in both countries while continuing the rollout of 5G networks, targeting underserved rural communities where connectivity remains limited or non-existent.
Hassan Jaber, AXIAN Telecom’s CEO, described the financing as a catalyst for socio-economic growth, digital inclusion, and better opportunities across both markets. The pan-African telecommunications operator currently serves over 44 million subscribers across nine Sub-Saharan African countries, with key operations in Tanzania, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo, and Comoros.
The investment carries particular significance given Africa’s persistent connectivity challenges. Only 37 percent of Africa’s population used the internet as of 2023, according to the International Telecommunication Union, making the continent the region with the lowest internet penetration globally. That digital divide limits access to education, healthcare, financial services, and economic opportunities for hundreds of millions of Africans.
EU Support Through Global Gateway Strategy
The EIB Global financing comes with a budgetary guarantee from the European Commission under the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, which aims to mobilize up to €150 billion by 2030 for physical and digital infrastructure development across Africa. The investment supports the Digital4Development initiative launched in 2017, positioning connectivity as essential infrastructure rather than luxury service.
Ambroise Fayolle, European Investment Bank Vice-President, emphasized that digital connectivity opens doors for education, business, healthcare, and social inclusion. The investment demonstrates EIB’s commitment to empowering communities and driving positive change through enhanced access to affordable high-speed communications, he stated.
European Union ambassadors to Madagascar and Tanzania expressed strong support for the investment’s development impact. Laurent d’Ersu, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros, noted that the commitment demonstrates the EU’s desire to contribute to sustainable development through private sector investments in the formal economy, thereby generating growth and creating opportunities for all.
EU Ambassador to Tanzania Christine Grau described the investment as concrete evidence of EU commitment to digital connectivity, noting that reinforcing public-private partnerships remains crucial for ensuring human-centric digital transformation where no one gets left behind. The partnership encompasses policy support, infrastructure development, and direct investments advancing Tanzania’s digital transformation agenda.
Strategic Positioning in Competitive Markets
AXIAN Telecom operates in highly competitive markets where multiple operators battle for subscribers amid infrastructure challenges and regulatory complexity. The company posted strong growth in 2024, with revenue jumping nearly 35 percent in the first nine months from $762.8 million to over $1 billion, reflecting growing demand for digital tools and services across the continent.
The company has unified its mobile network operators in Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, Togo, and Tanzania under the Yas brand, while fintech operations in Tanzania, Togo, and Senegal are branded as Mixx by Yas. This brand consolidation aims to create a streamlined customer experience and deliver solutions-driven innovations with real impact across markets.
Headquartered in Mauritius and led by Malagasy businessman Hassanein Hiridjee, AXIAN ranks as the sixth-largest telecom operator in Africa with 42.9 million mobile subscribers and 15.2 million users of its mobile financial services. That footprint provides geographic diversification while creating economies of scale for technology investments and infrastructure deployment.
The burgeoning youth population across AXIAN’s operating countries is expected to accelerate growth in demand for mobile communications and digital services. With Africa’s median age around 19 years, much younger than other continents, the addressable market for data services, mobile money, and digital content continues expanding rapidly.
Infrastructure Investment and Development Impact
The project will expand resilient and energy-efficient mobile broadband infrastructure, unlocking benefits aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These include sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth leading to quality job creation. Fragile communities will gain access to tools and resources necessary to connect with the wider world, fostering knowledge sharing, e-commerce, and innovation.
Improved connectivity plays a pivotal role in advancing socio-economic development, particularly in countries like Madagascar and Tanzania where geographic challenges complicate infrastructure deployment. Mountain ranges, dispersed populations, and limited electricity access make rural connectivity expensive and technically difficult, requiring creative solutions and patient capital.
The $100 million EIB investment represents patient capital willing to accept longer payback periods in exchange for development impact. Commercial banks typically avoid financing rural telecom infrastructure due to uncertain returns and extended deployment timelines, creating a financing gap that development institutions like EIB Global aim to fill.
Earlier this year on January 29, AXIAN secured $160 million in financing from the African Development Bank to drive digital transformation and expand access to financial services, indicating strong appetite among development finance institutions for supporting the company’s expansion plans.
Broader Context of African Connectivity
The investment comes as African governments increasingly prioritize digital infrastructure as foundation for economic transformation. The African Continental Free Trade Area depends partly on digital connectivity to enable cross-border e-commerce, digital payments, and service delivery, making telecom infrastructure investments strategically important beyond their immediate commercial returns.
However, challenges remain substantial. Electricity shortages across many African markets mean telecom operators must invest heavily in backup power systems, increasing deployment costs. Regulatory uncertainty in some jurisdictions creates investment risk. Currency volatility can erode returns denominated in local currencies. Security concerns in certain regions complicate site maintenance and equipment protection.
Madagascar faces particular connectivity challenges given its island geography and dispersed population. Tanzania’s vast territory and varied terrain create similar deployment obstacles, with much of the population living in rural areas where subscriber revenues may not justify infrastructure investments without subsidies or concessional financing.
The EU’s willingness to provide budgetary guarantees backing EIB lending reflects recognition that market forces alone won’t deliver universal connectivity at speeds required for meaningful digital participation. Blended finance models combining commercial lending, development finance, and grant funding have become essential tools for closing Africa’s infrastructure gaps.
Future Outlook and Competitive Dynamics
With continued backing from global partners and focus on fast-growing markets with youthful demographics, AXIAN appears well-positioned to expand its infrastructure footprint and capture growing demand for mobile data, financial services, and digital content. The question is whether the company can maintain profitability while serving lower-income customers in challenging operating environments.
Competition from larger pan-African operators like MTN, Orange, and Vodacom continues intensifying, while new entrants including Starlink threaten to disrupt terrestrial mobile broadband with satellite connectivity. AXIAN’s strategy of combining mobile networks, digital infrastructure, and mobile financial services aims to create sticky ecosystems where customers use multiple services, increasing lifetime value and reducing churn.
The EIB investment recognizes AXIAN as a capable partner for delivering digital infrastructure with development impact. By doubling 4G coverage and accelerating 5G deployment, the project should significantly improve connectivity in both countries, enabling new applications and services that weren’t viable on slower networks.
Whether this translates into sustainable competitive advantage depends on execution, regulatory stability, macroeconomic conditions, and ability to monetize improved networks through higher data consumption and new service offerings. For millions of Malagasy and Tanzanian citizens, however, the immediate benefit is clear: faster, more reliable internet access connecting them to opportunities previously beyond reach.
