Liquid Dataport, Vipnet collaborate to connect Côte d'Ivoire

Pan-African technology group Liquid Dataport has partnered with Vipnet, a privately owned corporate Internet service provider (ISP), to extend network services in Côte d'Ivoire.

The partnership will allow Liquid Dataport to leverage Vipnet's infrastructure to provide ISPs and enterprise customers with access to Liquid's full portfolio of services, including its extensive pan-African network and cloud and cybersecurity offerings.

Liquid Dataport said in a statement that it aims to provide businesses with cost-effective, reliable and secure connectivity solutions.

The companies quoted statistics from research firm DataReportal which show that Internet penetration in Côte d'Ivoire is currently at 45.4%: They believe the partnership will be a significant step in improving on that figure.

The Côte d'Ivoire partnership will allow Liquid Dataport to leverage Vipnet's infrastructure to provide ISPs and enterprise customers with access to Liquid’s full portfolio of services. (Source: Image by www.slon.pics on Freepik).

"We consider Côte d'Ivoire a very important ICT hub in the Francophone West African region. The country's stability, substantial economic growth and increasing demand for connectivity services make it an ideal location for Liquid to extend its presence," said Liquid Dataport CEO David Eurin.

Eurin added that the partnership will help Liquid enhance its regional connectivity and empower businesses and enterprises through expanded service capability.

"This new partnership will enable Vipnet to strengthen its position as a technological hub of excellence within the West African sub-region, with a much higher bandwidth, and access to a varied range of ICT products and services," added Vipnet CEO Ahmed Cherif.

Liquid's African connections

Liquid Dataport is part of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which falls under the pan-African technology group Cassava Technologies. Cassava operates in more than 25 countries in Africa. Liquid has invested heavily in its 110,000km fiber broadband network across Africa.

The company has recently been involved in major partnerships aimed at connecting underserved communities in different African countries.

Just last week, Liquid Intelligent Technologies secured a substantial R900 million (US$49 million) investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Rand Merchant Bank (RMB).

Another subsidiary, Liquid C2, signed an agreement for a strategic partnership with Google Cloud in Africa to focus on assisting customers in integrating and leveraging their data effectively through analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

In October 2023, Liquid Intelligent Technologies teamed up with a provider of carrier-neutral data center services, Wingu.Africa, to launch the second Azure hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) stack in Tanzania.

As well as deploying Azure Stacks, the company launched two terrestrial fiber routes – Kenya to Ethiopia and Zambia to Malawi – in August 2023.

In the same month, it also launched a high-speed fiber ring in Botswana's capital Gaborone.

In May 2023, Liquid Dataport launched a new fiber route connecting Mombasa in Kenya to Muanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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*Top image is of Liquid Dataport CEO David Eurin. (Source: Liquid Intelligent Technologies)

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa