DFA raises ZAR1.2bn for fibre expansion

South African network provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) – which owns a carrier-neutral dark fibre infrastructure for the transmission of primarily metro telecommunications traffic – has raised ZAR1.2 billion (USD91 million) in debt funding, with the new facility said to be used to refinance a maturing term loan and to finance the continued expansion of DFA’s metro fibre footprint nationwide. Local news outlet TechCentral cited DFA chief financial officer Cilliers Steyn as saying: ‘Being a capital-intensive business, access to funding is vitally important and we are very pleased with the funding support as well as the commitment from our high-quality syndicate of lenders, especially in these current difficult capital market conditions.’