Axian Wananchi deal closes as Zuku owner changes hands in East Africa broadband shake-up

Friday 7th November 2025

by inAfrika Newsroom

Axian Wananchi is now a done deal. Axian Telecom said its fibre subsidiary, Yas, completed the purchase of 99.63% of Wananchi Group, the parent of Zuku and Simbanet, marking a major move in East Africa’s fixed broadband market. Executives said the acquisition strengthens Axian’s position across growth cities and enterprise corridors.

The buyer plans to expand home-pass coverage and enterprise services while tightening service-level guarantees. Moreover, managers intend to link consumer fibre with business connectivity and cloud on-ramps. As a result, Axian aims to reduce churn and raise average revenue per user by bundling TV, Wi-Fi hardware and managed services.

Axian Wananchi adds scale in Kenya’s competitive market. Zuku holds brand recognition in mass-market fibre, while Simbanet serves firms and institutions. Together, the assets give the buyer national reach and a route to cross-sell capacity across Tanzania, Uganda and beyond. In addition, Axian flagged more than one million homes passed across its footprint after closing.

Integration starts immediately. Teams will unify network operations, refresh customer-care platforms and align field processes to cut installation times. However, managers said they will keep local leadership to protect market knowledge and community ties. They also pledged to publish transition milestones for connection quality, downtime and ticket resolution so customers can track progress.

Regulatory filings signalled the deal for months. Project notes tied to Axian’s funding showed Wananchi on the acquisition list as the buyer prepared environmental and social reviews for fibre expansion. Consequently, lenders and watchdogs will monitor right-of-way practices, wayleave approvals and community engagement during rollout.

Competitors are already reacting. Rival ISPs and mobile-fibre hybrids are pushing faster tiers and promotional installs to hold share. Nevertheless, analysts say scale matters in backhaul pricing, content delivery and equipment procurement. Therefore, Axian Wananchi could pressure smaller providers unless they partner or focus on niche geographies.

Consumers should see clearer installation slots and better peak-hour performance as capacity rises. Meanwhile, enterprise clients expect tighter SLAs, redundant routes and faster fault restoration. If execution holds, the combined network could handle more video, gaming and cloud workloads without evening slowdowns.

Pricing will remain sensitive. Households face budget strain, and corporates guard costs. Even so, operators can lift value through stable speeds, latency targets and simple contracts. Managers said they will map congestion hot spots, then deploy additional fibre pairs or suburban cabinets to spread load.

The broader signal is consolidation with investment. Fibre players across Africa are merging footprints to finance dense builds in profitable zones while tapping wholesale to reach thinner ones. If Axian meets its installation targets and keeps outages low, the deal could set a new benchmark for East African fixed broadband.