Project Summary

Project General Description

The Congo Component for the Central Africa Backbone (CAB) Project is initiated for the establishment of 550 kilometres of optical fibre cables on the interconnection links with Cameroon and the CAR and the establishment of a national data centre (Datacentre). The project also envisages the implementation of a number of ICT applications and services (Emergency Warning System, ePost, etc.), and an institutional support concerning, among others, feasibility studies for the preparation of the next phase of the project, support to the Posts and Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (ARPCE) and the Congolese Information and Communications Technology Agency (ACTIC), support to the Congolese National Institute for the Blind (INAC), the Brazzaville Institute for Young Deaf People (IJSB) and Marien Ngouabi University (UMNG), and support for women’s empowerment, the promotion of vocational training and the development of indigenous people. In addition to its regional focus, the project aims to complete the missing links in the national optical fibre backbone. It should help to extend the national optical fibre network coverage in this region and to Congo’s borders with Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR). The project cost net of taxes and customs duties amounts to EUR 66.555 million (UA 52.406 million). It includes the following main components: A) Optical Fibre Infrastructure; B) ICT Applications and Services; C) Institutional Support and Capacity Building; and D) Project Management.

Project Objectives

The overall objective of this project is to contribute to diversifying the Congolese economy by significantly increasing tax revenue and considerably reducing the cost of economic and social transactions, breaking the digital isolation of rural areas as well as enhancing regional integration through optical fibre infrastructure enabling access to neighbouring countries (Cameroon and CAR) and creating employment opportunities, particularly for youths.

Beneficiaries

The entire population of Congo and even the sub-region are the beneficiaries of the extended optical fibre project area. The entire Congolese population will benefit from ICT applications and services through the use of the e-Government platform, the Emergency Warning System and the e-Post module. In addition, at least 10 000 women are expected to be initiated in the use of ICT tools each year. Lastly, graduate training scholarships could be awarded to 24 students (2/3 of them female students) in the industrial sections of government technical high schools in order to make the industrial sector more attractive. The country’s private operators (telephone companies, banks, etc.) will also benefit from project achievements, as they would be able to easily extend their services to all localities served by optical fibre facilities.

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