KENYA – Insurance group Jubilee Holdings has purchased an additional 10 percent stake in submarine fibre optic cable project SEACOM for an undisclosed sum.

This raises The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm’s shareholding in SEACOM from 18.8 per cent after an initial 8.8 per cent stake purchase.

SEACOM Holding was valued at US$196 million (KSh22.3 billion) in 2020, meaning the 18.8 per cent shareholding puts Jubilee’s total stake at around KSh4 billion (US$35.04m).

Jubilee Holdings said it purchased the stake through IPS Cable System Limited, which has acquired SEACOM Holding Ltd (Mauritius) shareholding amounting to 10 per cent.

“The completion of this transaction lends credence to our continued need to diversify our investment priorities across key sectors of the economy,” Jubilee Holdings Limited chairman Nizar Juma said.

He said the firm’s investments into energy and ICT are representative of this diversification and importantly manifest desire to participate as an engine of economic growth of our region.

SEACOM launched Africa’s first broadband submarine cable system along the continent’s eastern and Southern coasts in 2009.

Through its ownership of Africa’s most extensive ICT data infrastructure, including multiple subsea cables and a continent-wide IP-MPLS network, SEACOM provides a full suite of flexible, scalable and high-quality communications and cloud solutions that enable the growth of the continent’s economy.

It leverages cloud technology to equip small to medium enterprises with cost-effective, simple-to-integrate business tools that rapidly extend their reach.

The firm continues to diversify its investment profile with interests in the telecommunication and energy sector.

In 2020, Jubilee Holdings bought an additional 9.44 per cent stake in Uganda’s Bujagali Energy Limited from technical partners SN Power for KSh4.2 billion (US$40 million). This pushed its shareholding in the energy firm to 18.24 per cent.

Bujagali Energy is the special purpose vehicle that owns the 250MW Bujagali Hydropower Project which cost approximately KSh95.4 billion (US$900 million). The funding was through a combination of equity and debt financing.

Seacom is a US$650 million (Sh74 billion), 15,000-kilometre submarine fibre optic cable project.

It links South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania with other international broadband cables and seeks to provide low cost and high-quality broadband capacity.

The other significant fibre optic cable project is The East African Marine System (TEAMS) which runs a 5,000-kilometre undersea cable connecting Mombasa with Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

TEAMS was built as a joint venture between the Government of Kenya and Kenyan operators, who hold 85 percent shares and UAE-based operator Etisalat, with 15 percent.

The increased investment in Seacom is part of Jubilee’s strategy of allocating capital to assets with stable, long-term returns.

The insurance group has been investing heavily in projects such as real estate, Uganda’s Bujagali hydropower plant and Kenya’s Kipevu II thermal power plant.

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