There has been real progress made over the last few years to expand peri-urban and rural connectivity and help close the digital divide. By 2023, an estimated 78% of South African households had connectivity, compared to only 28% in 2010. Meaningful, reliable access does, however, still remain uneven in many areas in South Africa, which makes the work done by companies such as Boniswa TowerCo so critical.
Boniswa TowerCo – part of the Boniswa Group – builds, owns, and leases telecommunication towers to major mobile network operators, with more than 125 towers, 80% of which are in rural and peri-urban areas.
Shareholder and Managing Director, Dr Magasa, founded Boniswa TowerCo in 2017, driven by an entrepreneurial mindset, a commitment to education and a determination to succeed in the telecoms sector.
Since then, Dr Magasa’s perseverance – combined with strong demand for new deep-rural tower infrastructure – has propelled the company from a start-up to an internationally recognised organisation employing over 40 people.
Boniswa operates on a fully vertically integrated model by managing the full lifecycle, from site acquisition and in-house manufacturing through to construction, ownership, and long-term asset management. This provides a clear competitive advantage in cost efficiency and speed to deployment.
Given its positioning as a 100% Black woman-owned, Level 1 B-BBEE growth-stage business within an expanding sector, along with demonstrable traction, Boniswa was recently awarded a significant investment by the Abadali Fund, a Black Business Growth Fund which forms part of the Abadali Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP). This is a South African economic inclusion initiative by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) in partnership with J.P. Morgan, and managed by Edge Growth Ventures.
“Boniswa TowerCo represents exactly the kind of business the Abadali Fund was designed to support – a black woman-owned enterprise delivering critical infrastructure to underserved communities.
Dr Lynette Magasa and her team have built a vertically integrated platform with strong operator relationships and a proven track record of execution,” says Philani Mzila, Investment Principal: Abadali Fund at Edge Growth Ventures. “Beyond expanding digital connectivity, this investment will generate localised employment and catalyse economic activity in communities that have long been underserved. We are proud to back Boniswa at this pivotal stage of its growth.”
Dr Magasa says that this milestone is not only a financial boost, but also a powerful endorsement of the company’s vision to expand inclusive digital infrastructure across South Africa.
“For many of these areas, connectivity is the key that unlocks access to education, healthcare and financial inclusion, enabling entrepreneurship and meaningful participation in the digital economy. By building towers where they are needed most, we are taking deliberate action to bridge the digital divide and create equitable access to opportunity,” she says.
“Together with the Abadali Fund, we are not only constructing infrastructure – we are building pathways to progress, empowerment, and long-term community development. We are inspired by the trust placed in us and energised by the responsibility that comes with it,” Dr Magasa says.
Founded in 2021, the Abadali Fund is designed to extend debt financing to eligible, black enterprises primarily operating in the industrial, green and township economy sectors of South Africa. The focus is on providing medium- and long-term funding to black-owned and majority black-controlled businesses that may not have access to traditional commercial finance. The Abadali Fund currently has over R300 million under management.
With the backing of the Abadali Fund, Boniswa is well-positioned to accelerate its tower rollout, deepen its footprint in underserved areas, and continue delivering cost-effective, high-quality infrastructure.
