[1] Based in Nairobi, Kenya, it offers Internet access and operates in ten African countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Namibia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Services provided by Africa Online include dial-up Internet access, leased line services, e-mail accounts, VSAT connectivity, DSL, WAN and VPN for private and business customers.
[2] The company was started in 1994 by Ayisi Makatiani, Karanja Gakio and Amolo Ng'weno, three Kenyans who met each other while students in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In the process, Africa Online acquired several ISPs, such as Pipex Internet Solution (Swaziland), Net2000 (Kenya), UUNET (Namibia) and Swift Global (Uganda).
African Lakes had been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1877 and was now moving away from its traditional background in agriculture and mining.