CamTel, Cameroon’s state-owned incumbent telecoms operator, has announced plans to extend its fibre-optic network to meet growing demand for more advanced telecoms services in the country.

According to a report by the Cameroon Tribune, the project will be jointly financed by CamTel and a XAF42.8 billion (USD81.4 million) loan from China’s EXIM Bank.

TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database states that CamTel’s national fibre-optic backbone, which was officially launched in May 2013, currently stretches 3,200km and connects all ten regions and around 100 district and department capitals.

The new cable brought the total length of Cameroon’s fibre infrastructure to 6,000km, and the government is aiming to increase the backbone to 10,000km.