The Commonwealth Development Corporation Group Plc has acquired a US$180 million for an 8% stake in African telecommunications group Liquid Telecom.

The CDC is the British government’s Sovereign Wealth Fund for developing countries.

And the Liquid Telecoms transaction is the CDC’s biggest single investment in an African company.

“Leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Global, today announces completion and receipt of an investment of US$180 million investment from CDC Group plc, the UK’s development finance institution,” said Liquid Telecoms in a statement.

“The investment will enable Liquid Telecom to further expand its fibre footprint and to broaden its data centres and cloud services product portfolio across Africa serving wholesale, enterprise and retail customers.”

Liquid Telecom is one of the leading independent data, voice and IP provider in eastern, central and southern Africa.

The company is involved in supplying fibre optic, satellite and international carrier services to Africa’s largest mobile network operators, ISPs and businesses of all sizes.

It also provides payment solutions to financial institutions and retailers, as well as award winning data storage and communication solutions to businesses across Africa.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe recently announced that it was acquired a 10% stake in the Liquid Telecom Group by swapping its then 51% stake in Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe.