Namibian telecommunications company DemshiTelco has partnered with Paratus Botswana and Abaricom Botswana to accelerate the rollout of its open-access fibre network in Botswana, targeting more than 40,000 homes in Francistown as it expands beyond Namibia.
The Master Service Agreements (MSAs), signed in Gaborone, will allow both internet service providers to use DemshiTelco’s fibre infrastructure to deliver broadband services to residential and business customers.
DemshiTelco Managing Director Werner Shilunga said the agreements mark the first phase of the company’s Botswana expansion strategy, with Francistown selected as the initial rollout market.
“DemshiTelco (Botswana) signed a Master Service Agreement (MSA) with Paratus (Botswana) and Abaricom (Botswana). The MSA will enable Abaricom and Paratus to leverage DemshiTelco’s Open Access Fibre Network to connect clients and offer them fibre internet services,” Shilunga said.
The company plans to extend fibre infrastructure across the entire city.
“Francistown has over 40,000 homes and DemshiTelco intends to roll out fibre across the entire city,” he said.
Shilunga said DemshiTelco had already secured wayleave approvals in Maun, Tlokweng and Phakalane, positioning the company for further network expansion across Botswana.
He added that negotiations with additional internet service providers were at an advanced stage, with one or two more infrastructure-sharing agreements expected to be concluded in the coming weeks.
“We are in advanced talks with other ISPs in Botswana and are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will finalise MSAs with one or two more providers,” he said.
According to the company, its Botswana fibre network is already operational and ready to connect customers, while recruitment is underway to establish a local team to support future growth.
“DemshiTelco’s network is live and ready to connect homes. We are busy putting a team together that will drive the growth of DemshiTelco in Botswana,” Shilunga said.
The Botswana rollout forms part of DemshiTelco’s wider regional growth strategy, which targets operations in five to seven Southern African countries by 2030.
“Our regional expansion will see DemshiTelco operate in at least five to seven Southern African countries by 2030,” Shilunga said.
The company has previously indicated that the first phase of its regional expansion will require between N$1.5 billion and N$2 billion in investment. Beyond Namibia and Botswana, DemshiTelco plans to expand into Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, targeting a combined market of more than 100 million people.
Shilunga said open-access partnerships between network infrastructure providers and internet service providers would accelerate fibre deployment across the region while creating opportunities for Namibian technology companies to scale beyond domestic borders.
“This is the type of collaboration that will ensure Namibia builds Pan-African companies. We hope financial institutions will follow suit to support Namibian companies to expand and scale across Africa,” he said.
