Page 41 - U4SSC Compendium of practices on innovative financing for smart sustainable cities projects

offices. The project has received multiple international awards including the African Banker Deal of
the Year in 2009 and the Private Equity Africa Development Impact Award in 2012. The MainOne
project represents the first wholly privately African-funded licensed submarine cable along the
West African coastline.

Sustainable Development Goals impacts

SDG 9: Investment in sustainable infrastructure and technology increases the potential for economic
growth on the African continent.

SDG 10: Improving and modernising communication and technological infrastructure in Western
Africa will reduce the inequality in services.

SDG 17: Partnership between governments, financial institutions and services providers.

People-first elements

• Improved communications access: Access to the only pre-existing cable system on the west
coast of Africa, was restricted to national telecommunication operators with landing rights
in their respective countries. This mode of operation led to monopolistic conditions and the
artificial fixing of bandwidth prices for third-party users. The MainOne project was built on an
open access basis made open to all operators in the countries of the project. By acting as a
neutral platform, MainOne is attractive to many ICT/telecommunications operators.

• Greater affordability: MainOne was structured to add value and increase impact. The project
changed the wholesale bandwidth pricing structure to provide more value to customers. Pricing
is determined by market forces and driven by economies of scale to ensure inclusiveness and
penetration. Regional connectivity and access, with significant technology/broadband cost
reductions to local businesses and consumers, were achieved.

• Creation of new jobs: MainOne has created 100 000 direct or indirect jobs as a provider of
innovative telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West Africa.

Financial information

The project total cost was USD 240 million with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1:1. The project was
financed through a mix of debt (USD 120 million) and equity (USD 120 million). AFC contributed
USD 37 million in equity and shareholder loans and was the lead arranger on the debt syndicated
financing of USD 120 million. AfDB contributed USD 61 million in debt financing. Other investors
included the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund, Nigerian Banks (FBN Capital and Skye
Bank), KFW DEG, and Main Street Technologies Nigeria.

Since the project was wholly private sector-oriented, there was no concessional funding involved.
The project benefitted from competitive resources from development financial institutions. Since

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