Several African telecoms companies are planning to list on the stock market across the continent this year as technology and internet firms gain sufficient scale for initial public offers (IPOs).

African telecoms operator from Egypt to South Africa have announce their intentions to list on the local bourses as the sector continue to register rapid growth as more people get connected to mobile phones and the internet across the continent.

“Despite global volatility, regional macroeconomic uncertainty, and a rout on commodity prices, recent forecasts are predicting that the next 12 months could see a rebound with IPOs set to reach their highest levels in Africa since 2010, and several telecom, media and tech companies looking likely to float in 2016 and 2017,” TMT Finance News Editor, Ben Nice, told PR Web.

Among the companies expected to make an offer include Africa’s first ever tech unicorn, Africa Internet Group (AIG); Orange Egypt, which is preparing to list in Cairo to fund infrastructure investments; and Lagos-based mobile tower operator, IHS Towers.

“We understand that it (AIG) will be targeting an IPO by 2017, and is also on the hunt for a new CFO,” said Nice.

“Orange Egypt (formerly Mobinil) is also preparing to list shares in Cairo to fund US$3.2bn investment into infrastructure, and IHS Towers, the Lagos-based mobile tower operator, is also expected to float over the next 12 to 24 months.”

Other companies that are also eyeing the IPO market include Dark Fibre Africa of South Africa, Nigerian payment services provider InterSwitch, Africa’s largest independent fibre operator Liquid Telecom, South African media company Primedia.

Morocco’s Maroc Telecom and Botswana Telecom IPOs issued earlier this year were both oversubscribed, an indicator of the strong demand for telecom offers.