[kictanet] [Fwd: Re: [Fibre-for-africa] [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: Re: SEACOM gets funding boost]]]

Thu Jan 17 10:49:16 EAT 2008

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [Fibre-for-africa] [Fwd: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: SEACOM 
gets funding boost]]
Date: 	Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:49:21 +0300
From: 	Vitalis Olunga <VOlunga at Safaricom.co.ke>
Reply-To: 	APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants 
<fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
To: 	APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants 
<fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
References: 	<478EEA7B.7040702 at apc.org>

If the two men, Jean Pierre de Leu - a resident in Kenya and owner of
Karibunet and Brian Hilehy President of Heracles from SA- were truly
involved in Africa One Project, then they should explain what happened
to the contributions made to the Africa One Project, after it became a
"White Elephant". The defunct KPTC and many other organizations did
contribute to this project but it did not take-off. How can we trust
them now that SEACOM will not go the same direction? And even if Seacom
will be a success story, they should refund the contributions for Africa
One. 

Vitalis

-----Original Message-----
From: fibre-for-africa-bounces at lists.apc.org
[mailto:fibre-for-africa-bounces at lists.apc.org] On Behalf Of alice
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:41 AM
To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants
Subject: [Fibre-for-africa] [Fwd: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: SEACOM gets
funding boost]]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: [Fibre-for-africa] SEACOM gets 
funding boost]
Date: 	Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:16:48 +0300
From: 	Victor Maloi <victormaloi3 at gmail.com>
To: 	alice <alice at apc.org>
CC: 	KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
References: 	<478E11D0.1070605 at apc.org>

Wakabi,
You have not addressed the fact that the principals behind Seacom 
collected funds from African Telcos and never refunded the money when 
the project failed.  KPTC now Telcom Kenya indeed paid and never 
recovered the funds.  Should we embrace these individuals even when they

stole from our national investments?  Please declare your interests too.

Victor

    -------- Original Message --------
    Subject:        Re: [Fibre-for-africa] SEACOM gets funding boost
    Date:   Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:31:24 +0100 (CET)
    From:   Wairagala Wakabi <wakabi at cipesa.org
<mailto:wakabi at cipesa.org>>
    Reply-To:       APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop
    Participants
    <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org
<mailto:fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>>
    To:     APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants
    <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org
<mailto:fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>>
    CC:     Kenya ICT Action Network - KICTANet <kictanet at kictanet.or.ke
    <mailto:kictanet at kictanet.or.ke>>
    References:     <
    3104.217.113.73.239.1195028026.squirrel at mail.cipesa.org
    <mailto:3104.217.113.73.239.1195028026.squirrel at mail.cipesa.org>>
    <478CFEF7.1040209 at apc.org <mailto:478CFEF7.1040209 at apc.org>>

    Alice,
    Our understanding is that SEACOM (The Sea Cable System) is a
    registered in
    Mauritius and owned 25% by Herakles Telecom - the managing partner
    for the
    cable who is based in New York.

    The other partners:
    1) Industrial Promotion Service of the Aga Khan Foundation (25%);
    2)  Venfin (a South African investment holding company with
    interests in
    IT (25%);
    3) Shanduka Group, a South African investment company (12.5%);
    4) Convergence Partners, a South African Black Economic Empowerment
    (BEE)
    investment company focusing on the Telecommunications, Media and
    Technology (TMT) sector - 12.5%.

    SEACOM says the ownership structure varies for each segment of the
    cable,
    which ensures local ownership of the cable segments connecting
    individual
    countries to comply with regulations in those countries.  The cable
    backbone along the east coast of Africa and to India and Europe is
owned
    by SEACOM; while the segments connecting to individual countries are
    either 100% (South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, India, France) or
    35%
    (Tanzania, Kenya) locally owned.

    Wakabi

    =====
     > Hi all
     >
     > Out of curiosity, who is SEACOM? rather who are behind SEACOM?
     > Anyone conducted due diligence. Any connection to the Africa One
    saga?
     >
     > best
     > alice
     >
     >
     >
     > Wairagala Wakabi wrote:
     >> Netters,
     >> Its backers are saying SEACOM will be the only new cable
    completed in
     >> time
     >> to give South Africa the bandwidth needed for the 2010 WC, with
    "actual
     >> production of the fibreoptic cable and undersea facilities"
starting
     >> next
     >> week. SA's SNO, NEOTEL, has helped marshal capital from local
    financial
     >> heavyweights, enabling NEOTEL to be owned 50% by South Africans.
     >>
     >> Tut Tut...
     >>
     >> Wakabi
     >>
     >>
     >> Sea cable venture lands big investors
     >>
     >> By Lesley Stones, Business Day, November 14 2007
     >>
     >> AN UNDERSEA cable promising cheap bandwidth for Africa yesterday
    finally
     >> named its backers, signing up enough well-connected local
    investors to
     >> guarantee its landing rights in SA.
     >>
     >> Investment heavyweight Venfin is sinking $75m into the project,
    taking a
     >> 25% stake in the 15000km cable linking SA to India and Europe.
     >>
     >> Cyril Ramaphosa's black investment house Shanduka is taking
    12,5%, worth
     >> $37,5m. Another 12,5% goes to Convergence Partners, a group of
black
     >> investors led by Andile Ngcaba, the chairman of Dimension Data
    Africa
     >> and
     >> a former director-general of the communications department.
Nedbank
     >> Capital and Investec will provide financing for the $650m
project.
     >>
     >> SA's second network operator, Neotel, is pumping in a far more
    modest
     >> R20m, and using its telecoms licence to guarantee that the cable
    can
     >> dock
     >> in SA.
     >>
     >> The local ownership is sufficient to ensure that Seacom meets
     >> controversial new conditions being drawn up by Communications
    Minister
     >> Ivy
     >> Matsepe-Casaburri, dictating who can land a cable in SA. The
    minister is
     >> insisting that any cable must be majority owned by African
    investors to
     >> come ashore.
     >>
     >> South Africans hold 50% of Seacom, and that rises to 75% African
     >> ownership
     >> thanks to 25% held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic
Development's
     >> Industrial Promotion Services, a development agency based in
Kenya.
     >>
     >> The remaining 25% lies with New York's Herakles Telecom, a
    development
     >> group that has invested $4bn in Africa.
     >>
     >> Neotel is investing only in the local landing station, but its
    licence
     >> to
     >> operate in SA conferred on it the right to land a cable, said MD
    Ajay
     >> Pandey.
     >>
     >> "Our understanding is that the country needs international
    capacity, and
     >> the way international cable landing protocols have been defined
    means we
     >> have the opportunity here."
     >>
     >> Venfin CEO Jannie Durand said Neotel's licence to land a cable
in SA
     >> meant
     >> everything had been done "legally and correctly". Venfin was
backing
     >> Seacom for two reasons, he said: "We are hopefully going to make
    a lot
     >> of
     >> money out of it and SA needs more bandwidth. We want to bring SA
     >> affordable bandwidth to the rest of the world."
     >>
     >> Although the cable will cost $650m, it would be partly funded by
    loans
     >> as
     >> well as equity, allowing Venfin to take 25% for less than the
    book value
     >> of the project, Durand said.
     >>
     >> Pandey believes Seacom will be the onlyThe actual production of
the
     >> fibreoptic cable and undersea facilities will start next week.
     >>
     >> The consortium has already invested more than $10m in a marine
    survey
     >> and
     >> engineering of the cable. The actual production of the
    fibreoptic cable
     >> and undersea facilities will start next week.
     >>
     >> Seacom will connect Mtunzini in SA to Mumbai in India and
    Marseilles in
     >> France via Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania by June
2009.
     >>
     >> Terrestrial links will be built to take its bandwidth to
    numerous other
     >> inland countries. Its capacity of 1,28 terabytes per second is
    10 times
     >> the capacity on the existing Sat-3 cable around Africa's west
    coast.
     >>
     >> The consortium has promised that it will charge other voice and
data
     >> carriers significantly less for its bandwidth than they pay to
    use Sat-3
     >> or satellite services, which should trigger a massive decrease
    in the
     >> cost
     >> of phone calls, internet access and data transmissions for
African
     >> consumers and businesses.
     >>
     >> "Improved access for business and individuals in Africa to
     >> communications,
     >> broadband services and new technology offerings can improve
    lives and
     >> help
     >> grow the economies of our countries," said Ngcaba, the chairman
of
     >> Convergence Partners. "The linking of southern and east Africa
with
     >> India
     >> and Europe is crucial for enhancing development and trade
    between these
     >> key regions."
     >>
     >>
     >>
     >> _______________________________________________
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     >>
     >>
     >
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