State-run Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) has contracted Nigerian network tech firm Sparkwest Steel Industries Limited to market and sell connectivity on the South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL) cable system to service providers and potential investors.

SAIL runs on 32 terabits per second and according to a statement issued by the partners, will serve the Nigerian market which is already connected to Cameroon from Lagos to Kribi through the Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS).

Sparkwest Steel Industries is expected to sell fibre optic connectivity to service providers in Nigeria including the likes of MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat.

The deal over the cable system that directly connects Africa to South America was penned in Yaoundé on 16 November 2018.

David Nkoto Emane, General Manager of Camtel, signed for Camtel and Niyi Oyedele, Managing Director of Sparkwest Steel Industries Limited represented his company.

"With this agreement, Sparkwest is becoming a preferred partner in the marketing of the Cameroon-Brazil submarine cable. We will have to sell the traffic that is between the two countries. We are already winning the traffic of Nigeria with its 200 million inhabitants whose communications towards Brazil will transit through the SAIL," said Emane.

"I thank Camtel for the opportunity it gives our two countries to build Africa. Nigeria is a large telecoms market that will benefit from Cameroon and allow our two countries to be linked to South America," added Oyedele.

SAIL started generating interest while it was still under implantation. An exploitation deal for commercial purpose worth FCFA 18 billion had already been established between Camtel and an Equatorial-Guinean company.

According to Oyedele aside from commercialising SAIL services, Sparkwest Steel Industries anticipates strong interest from customers in its portfolio including Google Telecom Malasia, Portugal Telecom, Glo Telecom, 9 Mobile Nigeria and NTEL Nigeria.