GuarantCo and the Asian Development Bank are co-financing a senior debt facility for Kacific to provide low cost, ‘direct to premises’, high-speed broadband internet connections across select Asian countries and the Pacific Islands. This is GuarantCo’s first credit enhancement support to a satellite financing opportunity.

GuarantCo provided a USD 50 million partial credit guarantee to a private sector European institutional investor to support Kacific build, own and operate its first shared geostationary earth orbit, high-throughput satellite. The satellite was launched by SpaceX in December 2019 and became operational in early 2020.

There are currently over two billion people in Asia and the Pacific Islands who do not have access to broadband internet connections because of the high cost and the lack of existing infrastructure due to geographical challenges.

The Kacific satellite will deliver significant development impact to communities living in remote small island countries, larger populous islands like Indonesia, the Philippines and mountainous areas with a low population density where the only viable option to connect communities to broadband services is through satellite.

The access to low cost, high-speed broadband connections will encourage economic growth in some of the lowest income countries in the world.

Asia and the Pacific counties

Indonesia (DAC3), Philippines (DAC3), Northern Myanmar (DAC1), South Asia (Bhutan (DAC1), Nepal (DAC1) and Bangladesh (DAC1) and Oceania (e.g. New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (DAC3 FCA), Fiji, Timor Leste (DAC1), Vanuatu (DAC1), Solomon Islands (DAC1), Tonga (DAC1), French Polynesia.