Bandwidth and Cloud Services

Debt : January 2026

BIO has granted a USD 15M loan to Bandwidth and Cloud Services, an optic fiber network owner operating across seven markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

Amount

$ 15,000,000.00

Type of investment

Debt

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Access to basic services & goods

Beneficiary locations

Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Investment field

Infrastructure

Activity

Wired telecommunications activity

Organisation

Bandwidth and Cloud Services

BCS plans to expand its network by building a 16,234 km fiber network in several routes across the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe over a period of 42 months until Q1 2028.

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Building up the capacity and quality of digital infrastructure that represents the backbone and key enabler of the digital economy, thereby contributing to the creation of digital markets as well as employment creation during the construction period and beyond.
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Building extra 16,234 km fibre infrastructure to connect several underserved and/or landlocked countries (DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to submarine cable landing stations and international internet services, thereby providing terrestrial connectivity for peri-urban connections within each country and linking African countries to one another.
Access to basic services & goods
BCS improves availability and can indirectly address substantial digital access gaps in countries and regions where availability, uptake, affordability, and quality of digital services.

E&S Impact

At Corporate level, a documented Environmental and Social management System entitled Environmental and Social Environmental Standards (“ESMS”) has been established on behalf of BCS by an external consultant. It presents principles to be adopted by BCS projects and includes notably over 30 Occupational Health and Safety management programmes, 7 environmental management programmes, a grievance redress mechanism and a land acquisition and compensation policy and plan. The company has a comprehensive human resource policy.

Environmental and Social (E&S) classification of the project: B+