Yas Gets US$307m To Rebuild Zuku’s Broadband Fight In Kenya And Expand In Senegal

Yas, the pan-African telecoms arm of AXIAN Telecom, has secured up to EUR270 million, about US$307 million, in long-term financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to expand digital infrastructure in Kenya and Senegal.

The EBRD financing is significant for several reasons. It is the bank’s first project in Senegal, its first local-currency financing in sub-Saharan Africa and its first A/B loan in the region. The committed facility includes funding for Yas’ capital expenditure in Senegal and Kenya, with an additional uncommitted facility available for future acquisitions and eligible investment.

For Kenya, the more interesting angle is Zuku. Yas acquired Wananchi Group, Zuku’s parent company, in 2025, taking over a broadband brand that was once one of Nairobi’s most familiar internet names but had lost ground to Safaricom and other competitors. Fresh capital gives Yas a chance to modernise the inherited fibre network and make Zuku relevant again.

For Senegal, the money will support 4G, 5G, core infrastructure and fibre deployment. That makes the deal more than a Kenya comeback story. It is part of a wider push to build stronger African connectivity infrastructure at a time when cloud services, streaming, fintech, AI and public digital platforms all need better networks.

Zuku’s decline in Kenya shows how quickly a broadband lead can disappear. A strong brand and early infrastructure are not enough if network quality, pricing and customer experience fail to keep up with competitors. Safaricom’s home fibre push changed the market, and smaller operators also made broadband more competitive.

Yas now has to do what many telecom acquisitions promise but do not always deliver: invest in the network, improve reliability and convince customers that the old brand has a new operating discipline behind it. The EBRD facility gives it capital, but execution will decide whether customers return.

TechBooky has covered how connectivity remains one of Africa’s digital economy bottlenecks, from Africa’s weak internet speed rankings to the rising pressure on operators to provide more reliable digital services. Yas’ funding lands squarely inside that conversation.

The local-currency piece is not just financial plumbing. Telecom infrastructure earns revenue in local markets, but many loans and equipment costs are tied to hard currency. That mismatch can become painful when exchange rates move. Local-currency financing can reduce some of that pressure and make long-term infrastructure investment easier to manage.

For African telecoms, this matters because broadband investment is expensive and slow to pay back. Fibre routes, mobile towers, spectrum, equipment upgrades and customer support require patient capital. Development finance can help where purely commercial capital may demand faster returns.

The deal also shows how African telecom competition is moving beyond mobile voice and data bundles. The next battle is home fibre, enterprise connectivity, cloud readiness and reliable digital infrastructure across borders.

If Yas can improve Zuku’s network and expand in Senegal at the same time, it could become a stronger regional challenger. If it struggles, the funding will simply highlight how hard it is to rebuild telecom trust once customers have moved on.

For now, this is one of the more important African connectivity stories of the week: a major financing package, a fallen broadband brand, and a wider bet that Africa’s digital economy still needs much deeper network investment.