• The South African Housing Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF) has announced that it is selling its entire investment in MetroFibre.
• It says the fibre network operator is valued at over R1.3 billion.
• The SAHIF is also in the process of wrapping up its current fund.

Some potentially significant changes are coming to local fibre network operator MetroFibre. This as the South African Housing Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF) has announced that it will sell its entire investment in the company.

After five years of investing in Metrofibre, the SAHIF has announced that it will exit the business, with the Fund noting that it aims to diversify into the emerging market independently.

The SAHIF has also notified its co-shareholders, AIIM of Old Mutual and French-based DFI STOA, of its intention to sell its entire investment in Metrofibre, which is reportedly valued at over R1.3 billion.

“SAHIF had a busy year in 2024, raising R700 million for expansion in the first half of the year alone. As part of its expansion plans, the fund is acquiring a majority stake in one of South Africa’s emerging Fibre Network Operators specializing in prepaid fibre services,” it shared in a release with Hypertext.

The Fund did not say that the Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) market in South Africa is done, however, noting that there is still has significant potential as approximately 19 million households are yet to be connected to the internet.

It explained that the majority of these households are located in the emerging markets of townships.

Moving forward it explained that the sale is subject to acceptance of the offer, meeting other conditions, and obtaining possible regulatory approval.

“SAHIF initially acquired a stake in Metrofibre in late 2019, during the peak of the Fibre land grab and just before the COVID-19 lockdowns. Metrofibre Networx, founded in 2010, is a South African Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) and Fiber-To-The-Business (FTTB) provider,” it continued.

“In addition to divesting from Metrofibre, SAHIF has increased its stakes in existing businesses and will provide loans where necessary to support its strategy of promoting digital inclusivity and accelerating the delivery of affordable housing across the continent,” it highlighted.

As for what lies next for the SAHIF, it is currently in the process of wrapping up its current fund as it has established a new fund called the African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (AHIF). 

“This equity investment fund will operate across multiple industries and is committed to being a market-leading, black-owned investment specialist. The fund’s vision includes offering comprehensive services in various sectors such as Digital Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Green Economy, Financial Services,Real Estate, Affordable Housing and Sport. AHIF is actively exploring new avenues for investment and growth,” added Rali Mampeule, founder and CEO of the SAHIF.

Regardless of what happens to the AHIF, it will be interesting to see what happens to MetroFibre moving forward, especially as it rebranded last year and has made sizeable investments of its own in the local FTTH space.

Not to mention the 19 million households that still need to be connected.