Axian’s Hassanein Hiridjee seals $63 million deal for Kenya’s Wananchi

Axian Telecom, owned by Malagasy tycoon Hassanein Hiridjee's Axian Group, has agreed to acquire Wananchi Group for $63 million, a move that adds business connectivity assets in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and deepens the Madagascar-based operator’s footprint in East Africa, according to a company statement carried by TechCabal. Terms weren’t disclosed beyond the headline price. The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Wananchi Group operates metro and long-haul fibre and enterprise connectivity services for corporates and public-sector clients across the region. The acquisition broadens Axian’s portfolio beyond its mobile operators and wholesale networks, giving it direct relationships with blue-chip customers in financial services, manufacturing, logistics, hospitality, and government. Axian said it will integrate Wananchi into its regional enterprise unit to cross-sell cloud connectivity, dedicated internet access, SD-WAN and managed services, while leveraging Axian’s tower, fibre and data transport footprint for scale efficiencies.

For Axian, the purchase fits a strategy of layering higher-margin enterprise revenue over existing mobile and wholesale infrastructure. Data consumption and corporate digitisation in East Africa continue to rise, and CIOs have shifted spend toward redundant last-mile links, managed security, and cloud on-ramps. By adding Wananchi’s fibre routes and service contracts, Axian gains customer stickiness and lowers churn, while opening a path to bundle connectivity with cloud, data centre interconnects, and IoT services.

Wananchi is best known in Kenya for the Zuku brand in fixed broadband and pay-TV; the transaction focuses on the enterprise/connectivity business. Axian said it plans to keep local teams and invest in network reliability, last-mile expansion, and service-level guarantees aimed at large accounts. The buyer expects to capture cost synergies from network integration and shared procurement, and revenue synergies from cross-selling to Axian’s regional customer base.

Telecom M&A in Africa has tilted toward fibre and enterprise platforms as operators seek steadier cash flows than price-sensitive prepaid mobile. Investors have also favoured assets with regulated wholesale revenues and long-term corporate contracts, which can support local-currency debt. Axian’s latest move follows a string of transactions that expanded its presence across the Indian Ocean and mainland Africa.

Closing will depend on approvals in the affected markets and standard competition reviews. Post-close, Axian indicated it will publish a capex roadmap for backbone upgrades, metro builds in key cities, and customer-service tooling to cut provisioning times and outages.