Paratus group expands East Africa footprint with high-speed fibre connectivity

Joseph Kibwott, Managing Director of Paratus Kenya and Martin Cox, Chief Commercial Officer of Paratus Group, at the official launch of Paratus Kenya in Nairobi. [Courtesy]

African telecommunications firm Paratus Group has completed a major expansion into East Africa, positioning itself as a competitive alternative to regional giants like Safaricom by leveraging high-speed fibre infrastructure and satellite internet services.

The Pan-African network services provider, which already operates in 15 countries across the continent, announced on Wednesday that it is now fully operational in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania as a licensed internet service provider (ISP).

In Kenya and Rwanda, the company is also an authorised reseller of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service.

The move signals a strategic bid to capture a share of East Africa's rapidly growing digital economy, which Euromonitor forecasts will account for 29 per cent of Africa's total GDP by 2040, up from 18 per cent today.

"We now hold operational licenses in key East African markets," said Martin Cox, Chief Commercial Officer at Paratus Group. "Our network enables enterprise and wholesale customers to access reliable, cross-border connectivity within the region and beyond."

Central to Paratus's expansion is its East-West fibre route-a terrestrial network stretching from Maputo, Mozambique, to Swakopmund, Namibia-where it connects to the Equiano subsea cable, providing low-latency links between Africa and Europe.

The company aims to serve key sectors including retail, logistics, education, and healthcare, with a focus on corporate and wholesale clients. Beyond this niche market Safaricom remains dominant in Kenya's direct mass-market mobile services.

Still, by offering dedicated internet access, cloud services, and cybersecurity solutions, Paratus is entering a high-value segment of the market where demand for redundancy and reliable connectivity is rising among businesses and government agencies.

"You can't trade if you can't connect," Cox said. "We're providing the infrastructure and delivering 24/7 connectivity across borders."

The launch event for Paratus Kenya was held on Tuesday evening in Nairobi, attended by local officials, clients, and partners.

The company emphasised its commitment to supporting digital transformation in a region of over 200 million people with a combined GDP exceeding $200 billion.

With its expanded footprint, Paratus is poised to benefit from policy reforms and foreign investment flowing into East Africa's agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and tech sectors-all increasingly dependent on high-performance digital infrastructure.