The governments of Djibouti and Somalia have reached an agreement on capacity sharing of the submarine optic fibre cable, the Djibouti African Regional Express.

The agreement was reached at the end of a four-day working visit to Djibouti by Somalia's telecommunications minister Abdi Ashur Hassan.

Hassan and his Djibouti counterpart Abdi Youssouf Sougueh signed on behalf of their respective countries.

The communique revealed the existence of a principle of progress in the negotiations between the two governments on the one hand, and between the Somali telecommunications carriers and Djibouti Telecom on the other hand.

According to the agreement, the Djibouti African Regional Express will connect Djibouti to Mombasa, and will have several landing stations in Somalia.

"Somalia no longer wants to live the blackout internet that it has known for 21 days following the break of the only submarine fibre cable to which it is connected," Hassan said.

This is in sharp contrast to Djibouti which is currently served by eight submarine fibre optic cables.

The agreement also extends to the promotion and strengthening of cooperation in regional interconnection, terrestrial fibre optics, cybersecurity, ICT regulation, cross-border signaling problems, spectrum management and numbering plan.

"Djibouti is a strategic partner that can help Somalia truly begin its digital development," Hassan added.