Ghana firm NGIC has commenced roadshows to raise capital and build a 5G shared telecom infrastructure stack with Radisys and other players. They are betting big in what is still an immature telecom market
Radisys, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Jio Platforms, announced plans to offer 4G and 5G shared network infrastructure technology in partnership with Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC), a Ghana government backed telecom company, to customers and businesses in Ghana, with plans to expand to other countries across Africa in coming years.
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For decades now, the growth opportunities that business leaders, economists and investors anticipated from Africa—from pharmaceuticals to minerals and telecom, light manufacturing and digital services—remained unlimited. Last week, Radisys, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Jio Platforms, announced plans to offer 4G and 5G shared network infrastructure technology in partnership with Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC), a Ghana government backed telecom company, to customers and businesses in Ghana, with plans to expand to other countries across Africa in coming years.
It has raised the possibility that Jio will lock horns with its India rival Bharti Airtel in Africa too, where the latter provides telecom and mobile services. But, at least for now, this will not be the case. While the turf will be the same—and Airtel already operates in 14 African countries—Radisys with NGIC offers a telecom infrastructure and vendor service, which is different from Airtel’s telecom and mobile money service.
Africa contributed about 25 percent to Airtel’s consolidated FY24 revenues and, after a tough period of initiation where it had to raise debt to keep the business running and profitability became a concern, it managed to turn the business around. Costs were lowered and it focussed on providing 4G technology. It is the second largest telecoms operator in Africa, after South Africa’s MTN, with 38 million Airtel Money customers.
The various partners provide the complete stack of core infrastructure, RAN, devices, platforms, and application ecosystems, enabling us to replicate the successful template established in India by Jio. “Our plan is to bring this proven model to Africa,” Singh told Forbes India.