Econet Unit Extends Partnership With DPA by Installing Solar

(Bloomberg) -- Liquid Telecom, Africa’s biggest fiber company, has turned to solar power in South Africa, a country where recurrent power outages shut businesses temporarily earlier this year.

Distributed Power Africa installed a 1.2 megawatt solar plant using panels on the carport and roof at Liquid Telecom’s campus and data center in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The installation of the solar panels builds on the relationship between DPA and Econet Group, Liquid’s parent company. The company is installing Tesla Inc.’s Powerwall batteries to keep Econet’s mobile-phone base stations running in Zimbabwe where electricity outages are sometimes as long as 18 hours a day.

“It will improve their power security and energy efficiencies,” Norman Moyo, the chief executive officer of DPA, said in a statement about the solar panels at Liquid Telecom.

To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Antony Sguazzin

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