Swedish telecom giant Ericsson will run Nigerian Zain's mobile phone networks for five years in a deal said to be "the first of its kind on the African continent".

Nigerian mobile telecommunications company KSC (Zain) and Swedish Ericsson AB, the world’s largest maker of wireless phone networks, have entered a five-year strategic managed services agreement under which Ericsson will operate Zain's nationwide GSM/WCDMA networks in Nigeria, the companies announced Monday morning.

The deal is “the first agreement of its kind on the African continent”, according to the statement. For Ericsson, this is a first major managed services footprint in Africa and reflects its continued focus on high-growth markets.

Ericsson will serve more than 4000 sites across Nigeria. As part of the agreement, about 450 employees will be transferred from Zain to Ericsson.

The African continent is becoming a more and more important market for the telecom industry as more Africans signs up for mobile phone subscriptions. The next five years are expected to show a massive growth rate on the African mobile phone market, according to Ericsson.

"Managed services is one of the fastest-growing areas in telecoms and Nigeria is demonstrating strong growth and increased levels of investment and competition", Ericsson's president for Sub-Saharan Africa, Lars Lindén, said.