Mike Mande
3 December 2007
The construction of the $235 million East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) project will begin this month following the approval of initial funding by the African Development Bank.
The AfDB along with other participating development financial institutions signed loan agreements for the fibre-optic cable project that will connect 22 coastal and land-locked African countries to each other and the rest of the world with high-quality Internet and international communications services.
The project is sponsored by 25 telecommunications operators, most of which are African. The AfDB last week signed a long-term loan agreement for the project's start-up costs.
The project will construct and operate a submarine fibre-optic cable along the east coast of Africa that will run for 10,000 kilometres from the continent's southern tip to the Horn of Africa, connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan.
Another 13 adjoining countries will also be linked to the system as terrestrial backbone networks; they are Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The EASSy project will also provide the last link to completely encircle Africa with high-capacity fibre-optic telecommunications networks.
Eric Chinje, AfDB's head of external relations and communications told, The EastAfrican from Tunis last week that the bank's financing will be channelled through the EASSy special purpose vehicle (SPV) which is also known as the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) in the form of a $14.5 million loan.
Mr Chinje said the cable was expected to transform the telecommunications landscape in the region as it improves access for 250 million Africans and substantially reduces costs for consumers and businesses.
"Construction will begin in December 2007; the EASSy cable is expected to be fully operational in time for the 2010 Football World Cup to be hosted by South Africa," he said.
The AfDB, the French development Agency, the European Investment Bank, Germany's Development Bank (KfW) and the International Finance Corporation will provide the project's entire long-term loan financing of $70.7 million, with $14.5 million coming from the AfDB.
The total project cost is $235 million and the 25 private telecommunications operators who will operate the cable as a consortium will provide the balance. These Telecom operators, including 21 African operators, will be the main users of capacity on the cable.
Unlike previous cables that were built on the "closed-club" structure, EASSy is built on a Hybrid SPV Development model. This model will allow smaller operators to participate in the cable consortium at reduced individual entry investments. EASSy also adheres to the main development objectives of "open access", "non-discriminatory" and "affordable pricing."
The cable will act as a crucial medium of Internet connectivity to carry telecom traffic for all African operators from East and Southern African markets to onward connecting cable networks in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
After years of collaboration between the AfDB, the World Bank Group and other global and regional development institutions, governments and the region's private sector, the project brings together the public and private sectors to expand telecommunications infrastructure.
EASSy provides a model for future generations of public-private Partnerships that will be necessary to create the enabling environment for private sector participation in Africa.
The EASSy project will also foster regional integration in line with NEPAD and the AfDB's strategic objectives. It will contribute to the socio-economic development of the region through the expansion of inter-Africa trade, facilitated by lower costs and better communication.
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