African Billionaire Strive Masiyiwas Cassava Technologies Closes $90M Funding Round

African Billionaire Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies has raised $90 million to bolster its balance sheet and fuel growth.

Cassava has closed a $90 million equity investment round, with participation from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund), and Google.

The funding is a key part of Cassava’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet, drive sustainable, profitable growth, and cement its position as a global technology company of African heritage.

Cassava Technologies Celebrates Three Milestones

According to a statement, the company has achieved three significant milestones. These include a substantial equity injection of $90 million, completing its debt refinancing round to $220 million, and finalizing its legal reorganization.

“These achievements strengthen our financial position and endorse our founder’s vision,” said Cassava CEO Hardy Pemhiwa in a statement. “This is a pivotal milestone to expand our digital infrastructure and bridge the continent’s digital divide.”

The $220 million debt funding was secured by Liquid Intelligent Technologies, one of Cassava Technologies’ subsidiaries. According to the deal, the subsidiary successfully signed new facilities to refinance its South African Rand term loan on a multi-tenor basis.

The new facilities will be made available in South African Rands and provided by Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank of South Africa, Standard Bank of South Africa, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Cassava also said the conclusion of this equity round coincides with the successful reorganization of its business to create an integrated digital solutions platform.

The platform provides Broadband Connectivity, Co-location (data centers), Cloud, Cybersecurity, Compute (AI), and Payment services across more than 30 markets in Africa, the Middle East, India, and Latin America.

Cassava Technologies’ Push Towards Digital Inclusion

Cassava Technologies prides itself on being a global technology leader “of African heritage.” The company provides a vertically integrated ecosystem of digital services and infrastructure, enabling digital transformation across the globe.

Headquartered in the UK, the company has a presence across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the United States of America. Strive Masiyiwa is the founder and executive chairman of Cassava Technologies. He is a Zimbabwe-born telecommunications and technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. Masiyiwa is also the first Black billionaire in the United Kingdom.

The company boasts several business units and subsidiaries like its artificial intelligence arm, Cassava AI; a telecommunications company, Liquid Intelligent Technologies; Liquid C2; Africa Data Centres; and its financial technology arm, Sasai Fintech.

These subsidiaries have emerged as leaders in their respective sectors. Through these subsidiaries, the company says it provides its customers’ products and services in 94 countries.

The integrated platform of business units also allows the Group to fulfill its vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. So, these solutions drive the company’s ambition of establishing itself as a leading global technology company of African heritage.

Cassava also prides itself on its impressive roster of stakeholders. They include the Econet Group, British International Investment (BII), Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), Africa-Export Import Bank (Afreximbank/FEDA), and Gateway Capital. This lineup has been made even more impressive with the addition of DFC, Google LLC, and Finnfund.