The first Cape Town-Cairo terrestrial fibre network is about to be completed

Leading pan-African telecommunications group Liquid Telecom and Egypt Telecom today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Export-Import Bank of Africa (Afreximbank) to complete the African terrestrial fibre network
from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt.

Under the MoU, Liquid Telecom will connect its network from Sudan to Egypt's telecommunications network through a new cross-border interconnection, connecting a 60,000-kilometer fiber-optic network from Cape Town to South Africa, passing through multiple Central and East African countries, and now to the border
between Sudan and Egypt.

The project, often referred to as the "One Africa" broadband network, is more than a decade old and serves some of the largest global companies with the fastest internet speeds
on the continent.

"Completing our vision to build a single network running on land from Cape Town to Cairo has been the company's vision, and it is also a historic moment
for Africa.
Not only does the network represent a remarkable engineering achievement that has overcome some of the most challenging distances and terrain on the continent, but it also supports the rise of Africa's digital economy," said
Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet.

Mr.
Masiyiwa also noted: "Wherever the One Africa network is completed, we are seeing a dramatic increase
in data traffic between the countries associated with it.
We would like to see a lot of network circulation
between Egypt and the rest of Africa.
Where communications improve, trade also
improves.
”

As part of the strategic partnership, Liquid Telecom and Telecom Egypt will share network infrastructure and explore more areas of cooperation, including joint network services, peering arrangements and voice interconnect protocols
.

Egypt Telecom, which has served Egyptian customers for more than 160 years, will provide Liquid Telecom with unparalleled coverage through interconnect services, while EGYPT's customers will benefit from Liquid Telecom's pan-African fiber network
.

"This MoU is an important step in our strategy to penetrate the African market and provide ET with state-of-the-art technology and global infrastructure services
to customers across Africa.
We look forward to working with Liquid Telecom to develop new network services and products that will help stimulate intraregional trade," said
Ahmed El Beheiry, Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt.

"The rollout of infrastructure, especially high-speed networks, is critical
to stimulating intraregional trade.
The Cape Town to Cairo fiber optic network sets a new standard for Africa and will open up new trade opportunities
for the region.
We congratulate Telecom Egypt and Liquid Telecom on reaching an agreement to complete the network from Cape to Cairo," said
Dr.
Benedict Oramah, President of the Export-Import Bank of Africa.