Safaricom, the newest telecom operator in Ethiopia, has signed a five-year lease agreement with state-owned power utility to share dark fiber-optic infrastructure in the Horn of African nation, the first infrastructure deal with Ethiopia.

The agreement was signed between Mr Ashebir Balcha, CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power enterprise (EEP), and Anwar Soussa, CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia.

Mr Soussa lauded Ethiopia’s move to cooperate with Safaricom in the infrastructure sector and expressed his company’s willingness to work with the EPP in a win-win situation.

“We are grateful for the spirit of cooperation from EEP on the win-win partnership to support our contributions to the digital transformation of Ethiopia,” he said at the signing ceremony, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

“Such infrastructure sharing agreements will enable us to fulfil our commitment to transform Ethiopian lives for a digital future and contribute to efforts being made to the phased operation launch.”

Safaricom says it has finalised preparations to launch commercial operations to provide telecom service to Ethiopians, becoming the first private and foreign entity to offer these services in the country.