Finnfund’s follow-on investment to Fibertime Group advances digital inclusion in South Africa with the help of Nokia technology

Finnfund has made a follow-on investment of 2 million euros to Fibertime Group enabling the company to expand its provision of fiber internet access to under privileged communities in South Africa. The new investment supports the company in its goal to connect up to 1.8 million homes to the internet. At the heart of the innovation is both the fiber internet technology provided by Nokia and an affordable pay-as-you-go pricing model by Fibertime Group.

In South Africa, approximately 80% of homes remain unserved by fast and affordable broadband internet, as fiber internet access is expensive and limited to affluent suburbs, perpetuating the digital divide. Furthermore, micropayments are also expensive due to high bank transaction fees leading to a cash-based mindset.

Together Finnfund, Nokia and Fibertime Group are advancing digital inclusion in South African townships. Since Finnfund’s initial investment of 2 million euros to Fibertime Group in 2023, approximately 65,000 households in South African townships have been connected to the internet. The new follow-on investment of 2 million euros enables to expand to new townships and connect more homes.

Fibertime Group, with its wholly owned subsidiaries fibertime™ and VulaCoin, provides unlimited data on a time-based pay-as-you-go pricing model as well as digital wallets to initiate micropayments. Nokia provides both fiber access nodes for the fiber exchange and fiber modems to create WiFi networks.

“Finnfund is very pleased with Fibertime’s rapid growth and expansion enabling more townships in South Africa to get access to the internet. As a Finnish development financier and technology-driven impact investor, we are of course proud that Nokia’s technology plays such a vital role in making this happen,” says Tuomas Vaulanen, Investment Associate at Finnfund. 

“Finnfund doubling down is a vote of confidence in Fibertime and South Africa. Our country is attracting foreign direct investment, and those funds are going towards building physical infrastructure in townships so that all South Africans can have access to affordable uncapped fiber internet,” says Alan Knott-Craig, Founder of fibertime™️.

The strong development impact of tackling the digital usage gap is clear: increasing internet access helps create jobs and is crucial to all personal human development including education, communication, access to information, employment opportunities, and financial inclusion.

“Fiber, the fastest and greenest broadband technology, is extensively used to connect everything to high-speed internet services. Our collaboration with Fibertime underlines our common vision to digitally enable people in highly-dense populated areas in South Africa with secure, affordable, and abundant data while delivering a long term sustainable business. Nokia is committed to driving the country’s digital goals by bridging the connectivity gap in numerous underserved regions throughout South Africa and is looking forward to supporting this disruptive model beyond South Africa,” says Toni Pellegrino, South Africa Managing Director, Head of Network Infrastructure for Southern and Eastern Africa at Nokia.

More information:

Niklas Simola, Investment Manager, niklas.simola@finnfund.fi, tel. +358 400 504 360
Tuomas Vaulanen, Investment Associate, tuomas.vaulanen@finnfund.fi, tel. +358 405 936 035

About Finnfund

Finnfund is a Finnish development financier and impact investor. Finnfund builds a sustainable future and generates lasting impact by investing in businesses that solve global development challenges. They invest €200 million–€250 million in 20–30 companies in developing countries each year. Finnfund’s focus sectors include renewable energy, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, financial institutions, and digital infrastructure and solutions. Today, Finnfund’s investments, commitments, and investment decisions total about €1.22 billion, half of them in Africa. The company has 100 employees based in Helsinki and Nairobi.

This investment is made with support from the European Union and the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), one of the financing tools of Global Gateway, promoting sustainable investments in the EU’s partner countries. Finnfund has utilized an EFSD+ guarantee under the Africa Connected program, which supports investments into rural connectivity solutions, access to data, and digital solutions in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information, please visit finnfund.fi.