Consultant EC Harris has been selected as strategic partner to the preferred bidder in a £286m telecoms project to connect 24 countries in Africa.
The project, to be known as Comtel, will be Africa's largest ever telecoms scheme. It is to consist of a privately owned network stretching the length of the continent from Egypt to South Africa.

It will take three years to build and is due to start later this year.

EC Harris is partnering with Zimbabwe-owned TeleAccess, which has been named as preferred bidder for a share in the project.

The consultant will manage the project through its offices in London, South Africa and Dubai.

Nigel Marsh, head of EC Harris' telecoms team, said the Comtel network would revolutionise communications in Africa.

He added that EC Harris would use its experience of working on similar projects in Europe and Asia.

Comtel covers almost 25,000 km, and will include fibre-optic cables, satellite stations and more than 300 repeater sites – which amplify the signal and are necessary to maintain the communications link.

The network will give Africa cheaper telecoms and end the need for communications between neighbouring countries to go via Europe.