Bharti Airtel Ltd. said Wednesday it hired China's Huawei Technologies Co. to expand and manage its telecommunication network in Africa, a move that will help cut its operating expenses in a bid to turn the African unit profitable.

New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel and Huawei didn't disclose the contract value in a joint statement, but a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity that the deal was worth $400 million.

Huawei will design, modernize, expand as well as manage and maintain Bharti Airtel's network in Africa, the companies said.Bharti Airtel acquired Mobile Telecommunications Co. African operations in 2010 and now provides services to about 50 million subscribers across 16 countries in that continent. The African business has been making losses, hurting the company's overall profitability.

The company has been trying to replicate its Indian operating model of outsourcing non-core operations in Africa as it strives to turn around that business. Airtel Africa has already outsourced its call-center and back-office operations to International Business Machines Corp., Tech Mahindra Ltd. and Spanco Ltd. It has also outsourced its technology systems for communications to IBM.

The Africa unit had recently signed a five-year contract with mobile software company Comviva Technologies Ltd. to provide and manage value-added services for its mobile-phone subscribers.

The contract with Huawei will help Bharti Airtel lower its operating expenses and roll out services at affordable prices, the statement said.

It "will enable Airtel Africa to channel its resources and expertise to its core areas of product innovation, value added services, marketing, branding and pricing," it added.