The Situation

Affordable fixed broadband service was lacking in Zimbabwe, and so the development of a plan to improve it is of national importance. TelOne therefore was planning for network modernisation and expansion into poorly served and unserved areas in Zimbabwe through its Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Project. However, they are constrained by a lack of capital, which thwarts efforts to raise funding from traditional sources in order to fund this project.

The Solution

TelOne envisaged a Build and Transfer PPP model in order to solve the problem of funding constraints, and this proposal was successfully granted the authority to proceed to the next steps by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Joint Venture Unit. As part of these next steps, Africa PPP Advisory, in association with Deloitte & Touche Zimbabwe, Deloitte & Touche India and Manokore Attorneys, were appointed as transaction advisors and tasked with preparing all the relevant documentation, and technical assistance required to support TelOne in undertaking Public Private Partnership Engagements in compliance with the Joint Venture Act of Zimbabwe.  

Our Assistance

The proposed Project was assessed for its commercial and technical viability through an analysis of costs to ascertain the reasonableness of the prices, and to check if it was in line with international standards. We facilitated the undertaking of a feasibility study, carried out due diligence and risk assessments on the potential partner and the project, and supported TelOne with contract negotiations. We also prepared the business case, and prepared the necessary Joint Venture documentation to submit to the Joint Venture Unit in terms of the Joint Venture Act.