Kigali — Rwanda has been selected to house the headquarters of the multi-million dollar Eastern Africa Submarine Cable Project (EASSy).

The project, which has of recent been dogged by controversy over its ownership, has a membership of 23 countries in the region.

Dr. Shem Ochoudho, the outgoing executive director of Rwanda Information Technology Agency (RITA), told Business Week that Rwanda would also chair a select committee to manage the project.

"The committee will comprise of 14 members, seven of them policy maker and the rest from telecom operators," Ochuodho, now a technical advisor to Rwanda's infrastructure and communications state minister, said.

Although there are 23 member countries, those directly involved in spearheading the project include Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Rwanda's selection is seen as a vote of confidence in the country's political will and the developments already underway in transforming the country into an ICT hub.

The EASSy cable system is a 9900km project expected to run from Durban, South Africa to Djibouti and is supported by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and telecommunications operators.