By Brian Mboh
Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, and the Ethiopian Telecommunications giant, Ethio Telecom, have sealed a three-year strategic deal designed to strengthen South- South cooperation and accelerate Cameroon’s digital transformation.
The historic partnership event that took place on Thursday, December 4, 2025, in Yaounde, brought together CAMTEL’s Director General, Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi and her Ethiopian Telecommunications counterpart, Frehit Tamuri.
Deal focuses on four priority areas to support country’s digital ecosystem
These include: the expansion of CAMTEL’s Blue Money electronic payment service and the digitalization of public services through the deployment of a sovereign Government Cloud. Furthermore, the partnership involves the modernisation of telecommunications networks with the advancement of 4G, 5G, and other innovative technologies.
The collaboration aims to support CAMTEL’s internal transformation, covering organisational improvements, upgrades to information systems, and initiatives to strengthen customer-centric culture.
Ethio Telecom’s Director General, Frehiwot Tamiru, who led a high-level delegation, showcased the remarkable achievements of her company over the past six years. She stressed that Ethio Telecom’s success, evidenced by growth in revenue, subscribers, and products, stemmed from a clear, holistic vision.
“In order to achieve this, CAMTEL must go beyond connectivity, and that is what is driving us,” Tamiru stated. She stressed that realising this goal, to create “A one, Africa, prosperous, inclusive, and digitally empowered. No one left behind,” requires courage, commitment, vision, strategy, and bold steps.
According to Tamiru, both Ethio Telecom and CAMTEL have a mandate that extends past simply being operators. They must act to “go beyond connecting and enabling the government, create an inclusive, affordable, accessible for urban and rural communities.”
Expanding infrastructure alone is not enough,” she continued. “To be relevant and to stay in the market, relevant meaning to their customers, to the nation and the government, we need to embrace digital transformation first for ourselves.”
Tamiru affirmed that Ethio Telecom is in Cameroon to share its extensive experience in digitally transforming its company and the country, noting that millions of Ethiopians now benefit from the strategic initiatives taken over the last decade.
“At the center of this transformation and the strategic alliance, we are aiming to accelerate the economic growth of Cameroon. The digital transformation is not going only to benefit Cameroon but it’s going to benefit its customers, government, the ecosystem at large,” she concluded.
Speaking during the high- level event, CAMTEL’s, General Manager Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi welcomed the Ethio Telecom delegation, describing the MSA as the “culmination of months of profound and constructive exchanges, of transparent and ambitious discussions and of rigorous technical work.”
She highlighted a shared conviction: “Africans can no longer be satisfied with following global digital revolution. We must become architects of our own.”
In choosing Ethio Telecom, one of Africa’s largest operators, CAMTEL is “not merely entering into cooperation but aligning Cameroon with the trajectory of proven performer, strategic discipline and operational excellence,” Judith Sunday said.
She added that the agreement comes at a pivotal moment, as citizens’ digital expectations rise and as the Cameroonian government, led by President Paul Biya, has prioritized digital modernization. While on mission in Yaounde, the Ethio Telecom delegation participated in technical and commercial working sessions, met with government authorities, and engaged with key institutional and strategic partners to ensure a smooth implementation of the Master Service Agreement.
