Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has opened its office in Harare, Zimbabwe, which the company says markets its first network expansion into African markets outside of South Africa.

According to a statement issued by the DFA, the company's Zimbabwe operations are headed up by Simon Chimutsotso, a seasoned executive with extensive experience in rolling out telecommunications infrastructure in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa.

An accomplished executive team will support him in planning and deploying the initial sections of the high-speed Zimbabwean network, which will be made available on a wholesale open-access commercial offering, the company added.

DFA announced its intention to launch its business in Zimbabwe in June 2018 to address the growing demand for fibre connectivity.

At the time Vino Govender, Executive for Strategy, Mergers and Acquisition, and Innovation at DFA in South Africa said the company has "a set way" of evaluating opportunities and this is based on the current regulatory environment and market potential, and the risk outlook.

Chimutsotso said that following the announcement last year, the team has spent the past few months working on feasibility and compliance readiness. "We now stand primed to deliver a reliable and cost-efficient open-access network and high-quality service, which underlines the DFA customer-centric values."

He added that DFA Zimbabwe will build on the extensive experience from its South African counterpart to give, among others, Zimbabwean telecommunications operators and ISPs access to "the same premium connectivity infrastructure that DFA South Africa is known for."

"We are excited to build our customer base in this new territory and at the investment opportunity and value to be derived by the telecommunications sector of Zimbabwe and the economy at large," said Chimutsotso.

Govender said, "We have rolled out network infrastructure in all of the major South African metropolitan areas and have extended our footprint to large and small towns, amounting to over 13,000 km of ducting space. Our entry into Zimbabwe is in line with our strategic intent of expanding into sub-Saharan and other African markets."