Perspectives & Research
Thinking Deeply About Africa’s Digital Infrastructure
Sector perspectives, market analysis, and strategic commentary from the advisory team — grounded in decades of hands-on engagement across 50+ African markets.
Featured Perspective
The Data Centre Deficit: Africa’s Next Infrastructure Inflection Point
Sub-Saharan Africa is approaching a data centre supply crisis. Hyperscaler expansion, rising enterprise cloud adoption, and the growth of mobile-first digital services are driving demand that existing capacity cannot satisfy. Yet investment remains concentrated in three gateway markets — South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya — leaving the continent’s remaining 51 countries chronically underserved. This piece examines the structural dynamics, identifies where investable opportunity is emerging, and considers the regulatory and connectivity prerequisites that will determine which markets move first.
Strategy
Tower Monetisation in Fragmented Markets: Separating the Signal from the Noise
The passive infrastructure carve-out wave has reshaped mobile economics globally. In Africa, where operator balance sheets are under stress and co-location demand is still maturing, the arithmetic looks different. We examine five monetisation models and what each requires to generate risk-adjusted returns for both operators and tower cos.
Investment
Due Diligence in Frontier Markets: What Standard Frameworks Miss
Commercial and technical due diligence frameworks developed for mature markets systematically underweight the risks and opportunities that matter most in frontier digital infrastructure. Drawing on 27+ years of in-country engagement, we outline the adjustments that produce more reliable investment theses.
Policy
Universal Service Funds: Reform or Abolish?
Most African USFs are chronically underspent, poorly governed, and structurally incapable of delivering the connectivity mandates they were designed to fulfil. A frank assessment of what has worked, what has failed, and what a fit-for-purpose successor model might look like across different regulatory environments.
Markets
Fibre Overbuild Risk: Reading the Competitive Signals Before They Become a Problem
Several African metro markets are approaching or have already reached overbuild conditions in residential fibre. Investors who entered on greenfield projections are now navigating take-up rates below business case and intensifying price competition. We identify the leading indicators that presage overbuild before it crystallises in the financials.
From the Advisory Team
“The infrastructure gap in Africa is not a funding problem. It is a structuring and execution problem. Capital is available — what is scarce is the local knowledge needed to deploy it reliably.”
— Bora Varliyagci, Founder & CEO, digitalthings
Get in Touch
Insights are shared with clients and select counterparts. To discuss any of these topics or commission bespoke research for your organisation, contact the team.