Axian Comoros II & Tanzania

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   IFC proposes a senior secured loan of up to EUR25mn (c.US$27mn) to Telecom Comores S.A. (“Telco”) and of up to US$100mn (TZS linked) to Honora Tanzania Plc (“Honora” or “Tigo Tanzania”), two mobile network operators (MNO), subsidiaries of Axian Telecom, an existing IFC client. The proceeds of the proposed IFC financing would be used for (i) financing capital expenditure and refinancing existing loans for Tigo Tanzania; (ii) Telco’s mobile operations expansion program in Comoros through 2024-2026. Axian Telecom (“Axian” or the “Group”) is an established operator in the Africa telecoms industry since 2004, with operations across three key business segments, providing mobile and fixed networks as well as digital infrastructure (towers, data centers, submarine cables) and mobile financial services. Since 2022, the company has expanded its portfolio of telecom operations by horizontal integration in more than nine countries, including La Reunion & Mayotte, Comoros, Senegal, Madagascar, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and DRC.IFC committed a EUR 13 million (c.US$16mn) loan to Telco in 2019 under ‘Telco SA’ (Project #37209); Tigo Tanzania was acquired by Axian under the ‘Axian Telecom Bond’ (IFC Project #46459) in 2022, where IFC acted as an anchor investor in a bond issuance of US$420 million. Additionally, IFC committed another senior debt facility of up to EUR 43 million to Togocom, another subsidiary acquired by Axian Telecom in 2019 in Togo. As of 2024, the three projects have had satisfactory environmental and social (E&S) performance. The relevant ESRS can be found respectively at https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/37209/telco-sa and https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/46459/axian-telecom-bond and https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/44666/axian-togo.