Our local currency financing is helping to deliver affordable access to high-speed broadband for homes and businesses across Senegal.
African firms using the internet have labour productivity 3.7 times higher than non-users. And while Senegal has made significant strides in expanding its telecommunications infrastructure, with mobile broadband services covering most of the country, rural areas still struggle with expensive and unreliable internet access. Currently, just 0.9 million homes and businesses in Senegal have a broadband subscription, hampering education, healthcare and business development.
In 2024, we committed €25 million of local currency debt financing to Sonatel, Senegal’s largest telecommunications operator. Sonatel provides a wide range of telecommunications services, including fixed and wireless broadband, mobile data, fixed-line voice services and mobile money. The financing is part of a broader €87 million sustainability-linked facility in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco. The funding is being used to improve essential telecoms infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. The project aims to increase Senegal’s mobile users from 12.6 million to 14 million by 2031 and expand high-speed internet connections in homes and businesses from 0.9 million to 2.6 million in 2031.
Our investment structure also links the pricing of the loan to Sonatel achieving measurable development goals. These include increasing the company’s number of women in management positions in Senegal and expanding the reach of digital skills programmes across the country.
