Intelsat, the private equity-owned satellite operator, has struck a financing deal to launch a $250m satellite for Africa. It is a sign of the continued confidence in the rocket-launching division of the media and telecoms industry.

The Bermuda-based group, for which BC Partners bid $16.5bn last June, weeks before the credit markets ground to a halt, has secured non-recourse financing from two South African financial institutions, Nedbank Capital and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.