(Ecofin Agency) - African telecom operators need more capacity to meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity on the continent. This presents a market opportunity for local and foreign wholesale providers. 

Omani telecom operator and wholesale service provider Omantel announced a partnership agreement with data center operator Wingu Group to establish a point of presence (PoP) in Djibouti. With that agreement, it is thus kicking off its African expansion. 

Omantel will thus be able to forge new wholesale partnerships with telecom operators and hyper scalers, “improve the utilization of connectivity between Oman and Africa, facilitate better commercial models [...] and enable better support for customers with connectivity requests to and from Africa.”

The partnership is part of Omantel's strategy to become one of the leading regional wholesale service providers in the Middle East and Africa. The company already has points of presence in various countries around the world including France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore, in the framework of a vision called "From Oman to the World".

The new partnership comes amid rapid growth in demand for high-speed telecom services and telecom traffic on the continent. Telecom operators and other digital service providers need more wholesale capacity to upgrade and improve their network coverage to meet this growing demand. This is attracting investment from local and foreign wholesale providers.

For Demos Kyriacou, deputy CEO and COO of Wingu Group, the collaboration is likely to foster greater connectivity in the region and encourage more global players to opt for the company's data center in Djibouti. A new facility with integrated cable landing stations and a carrier-neutral data center is currently under construction.

Isaac K. Kassouwi