Finnfund has made a €2m follow-on investment in Fibertime Group enabling the company to expand its provision of fiber internet access to under privileged communities in South Africa. 

“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,” said Tuomas Vaulanen, Investment Associate at Finnfund. 

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. 

“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,” commented Toni Pellegrino, South Africa Managing Director, Head of Network Infrastructure for Southern and Eastern Africa at Nokia.

Since Finnfund’s initial investment of €2m to Fibertime Group in 2023, approximately 65,000 households in South African townships have been connected to the internet. 

The new €2m follow-on investment 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.

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.

“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,” said Alan Knott-Craig, Founder of fibertime.