The telco test: long-term thinking, mutual wins and ecosystem emergence

In October 2022, Lanre Kolade travelled to Togo for what he thought would be a routine weekend trip. That visit sparked a sequence of conversations that would culminate in one of West Africa's most significant digital infrastructure projects: landing Google's Equiano submarine cable in Togo - a country that wasn't even on the original landing map.

"We practically midwifed the opportunity from zero to delivery," reflects Kolade, the former CEO of CSquared, CEO of Koltronics Nigeria and current chairman of ConnectedCompute on a recent African Tech Roundup podcast conversation. "It was a two-year journey involving multiple stakeholders across government, development organisations and corporations."

The project's success hinged not on a brilliant stroke of individual genius or aggressive market dominance, but rather on the patient orchestration of relationships, the creative blending of different forms of capital and an unwavering focus on long-term developmental impact.

It's a story that illuminates a fascinating pattern in Africa's telecommunications sector: the peculiar way it seems to resist purely extractive approaches, instead rewarding actors who pursue mutual wins and long-term ecosystem benefits.

The physics of progress

"The laws of physics are the laws of physics," Kolade notes, discussing competition from satellite providers. "Until the laws of electromagnetism change, there will be a limit to what Starlink can do." This observation extends beyond technical constraints to a deeper truth about telecommunications infrastructure: you cannot shortcut the fundamentals.

Unlike other technology sectors where rapid iteration and minimum viable products can yield quick wins, telecommunications infrastructure demands substantial upfront investment, physical presence and long-term commitment. "Doing business in Africa is not just you come with a briefcase and you go out," Kolade emphasises. "You're embedded into the people."

This embeddedness manifests itself through necessary multi-stakeholder collaboration. The Togo project required a complex blend of financing—government fiscal commitment, development funding through the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) window, vendor financing, and shareholder equity.

Commercial money alone wouldn't suffice: "For that kind of project, the money must be patient," Kolade explains. "You need patient capital that understands first that what we're trying to do is developmental."

Natural alignment

This necessity for steady investment and coordinated collaboration points to a broader principle at work: organic evolution within systems. In economic theory, this refers to how complex phenomena arise from simple interactions among agents. Rather than being designed from the top down, beneficial outcomes emerge naturally when the right conditions and relationships are cultivated.

The Togo cable landing exemplifies this principle. What began as serendipitous conversations evolved into a transformative infrastructure project through the careful nurturing of relationships and alignment of diverse stakeholders' interests.

The project's value extends beyond its immediate commercial returns to include what Kolade calls "capillarity" - the way the infrastructure serves not just Togo but neighbouring countries, creating positive network effects throughout the region.

Beyond zero-sum games

This dynamic stands in stark contrast to other areas of technology innovation, where winner-takes-all mindsets often swirl. Consider the fintech sector, where the rush to demonstrate progress through product innovation and user acquisition metrics can sometimes overshadow deeper systemic challenges. Or examine how some blockchain advocates position crypto adoption as a silver bullet for financial inclusion, reducing complex socio-economic challenges to purely technical problems.

The telecommunications sector's physical constraints and infrastructure requirements enforce a different approach. Success demands what I've previously called "elephant path thinking" - patient progress that reshapes ecosystems meaningfully over time. Like the forest elephants of the Congo Basin who create pathways that foster biodiversity and carbon capture, telco infrastructure projects can only succeed by working with, rather than against, the ecosystem's natural dynamics.

The connectivity imperative

This aligns with what I've observed about the critical role of connectivity in innovation strategy. True connectivity, within the context of human relationships, network access and reputational equity, isn't just about physical infrastructure - it's about cultivating goodwill and trust, leveraging expertise, and maintaining strategic command of relationships and reputational capital. The telco sector's success in Africa demonstrates how this principle operates at scale.

Take Kolade's reference to a modest fibre connection in Lagos' Yaba district- nicknamed "Yabacon Valley" and hailed as Nigeria's Silicon Valley for incubating two unicorns.

The roughly $50 000 (R904 314) investment made years ago to bring broadband fibre to the area yielded value far beyond its initial returns, sparking innovation and entrepreneurship within the ecosystem.

This example underscores how well-designed infrastructure investments can act as powerful catalysts for progress, achieving impact that short-sighted, exploitative approaches simply cannot replicate.

Legacy wisdom

As Africa continues its digital transformation journey, other sectors would do well to study the telecommunications playbook. The key lessons include:

Patient capital: Understanding that meaningful change requires investment horizons aligned with developmental timelines, not just quarterly earnings cycles.

Stakeholder orchestration: Recognising that complex challenges require the coordinated efforts of multiple actors with diverse but aligned interests.

Emergence over extraction: Focusing on creating conditions for organic growth rather than attempting to force predetermined outcomes.

Infrastructure thinking: Appreciating how foundational investments can enable innovation and value creation throughout the ecosystem.

The telco sector's experience suggests that sustainable progress in African markets comes not from rapid disruption or aggressive competition, but from patient investment in infrastructure, relationships and ecosystem development.

As Kolade puts it, "You cannot correct an inaction." The key is to take action with a long-term view, understanding that true transformation emerges from the patient cultivation of relationships and infrastructure that serve the entire ecosystem.

In reflecting on his journey, perhaps the most profound lesson Kolade offers is this: the real dividends of connectivity come not from dominating markets or chasing quick returns, but from embedding oneself into the people and ecosystems one seeks to serve.

Andile Masuku is Co-founder and Executive Producer at African Tech Roundup. Connect and engage with Andile on X (@MasukuAndile) and via LinkedIn.

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