A Nigerian technology firm is turning to the bond market to lay more fibre. Dimension Data Limited has raised N4.05 billion, about US$2.9 million, in the first tranche of a larger N20 billion (US$14.7 million) bond programme, with the proceeds earmarked for expanding its fibre network across Nigeria.
The company, a technology and connectivity provider based in Lagos, Nigeria, announced the closing at a signing ceremony on 27 July 2026. Pathway Advisors Limited acted as lead issuing house and book runner, with the raise structured through a special purpose vehicle, Dimension Data SPV Limited.
Debt, not equity, for infrastructure
The choice of instrument is part of the story. Rather than raise equity or lean on bank loans, the company issued a corporate bond, tapping high-net-worth investors for longer-dated capital of the kind that fibre roll-outs, with their upfront costs and slow paybacks, actually need. Adekunle Alade, founder and chief executive of Pathway Advisors, noted that investors backed the issuance “despite prevailing preferences for shorter-term investments”, a pointed observation in a market where inflation and high yields push most money toward short maturities.
Shatse Kakwagh, managing partner of Mbavaa Partners and a director of the special purpose vehicle, described the deal as the end of a two-year process. “This funding is not the destination,” he said, “it is the beginning of an even bigger journey.” The N4.05 billion is the first drawdown against the N20 billion programme, so further tranches can follow as the build progresses.
Who the fibre is for
The expansion is aimed squarely at business demand. The company said the new capacity will serve financial institutions, fintechs and enterprise customers, the users whose cloud adoption, digital financial services and data-heavy applications are driving Nigeria’s appetite for reliable connectivity.
“Beyond delivering technology solutions, we work every day to strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy,” said Olugbenga Olabiyi, managing director of Dimension Data Limited, framing the raise as investment in “infrastructure that supports businesses, innovation and national digital transformation”.
Why it matters
Fibre is the quiet layer beneath everything Nigeria’s technology sector is trying to do. The same enterprise and fintech growth that draws attention to apps and platforms depends on physical fibre reaching offices, data centres and exchange points, and financing that build-out is one of the market’s persistent bottlenecks. Watching a local operator fund fibre through the domestic capital market, rather than foreign development finance, is a small sign of that gap starting to close, and it sits alongside the wider data-centre and infrastructure build-out under way across Nigeria.
The figures are modest against the scale of the task, and the bulk of the N20 billion programme is still to be drawn. But the direction, patient local capital financing hard infrastructure, is the kind the market needs more of, echoing the pull of carrier and data-centre investment into under-served African markets.
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