World Bank Approves US$164.5 Million for Connectivity to Make Kenya,
Burundi and Madagascar More Competitive
Press Release - World Bank
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 2007 — The World Bank Board of Directors
approved on March 29, an International Development Association (IDA)
financing package of US$164.5 million for Kenya, Burundi and
Madagascar as the first tranche of the US$424 million Regional
Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) for high-speed
connectivity in East and Southern Africa.
The region is being held back by the prohibitive costs of
international connectivity. Businesses are unable to compete in the
global economy; university students suffer because they cannot access
the Internet; and Government agencies cannot communicate effectively
with each other and their citizens because they are not connected.
East and Southern Africa is the only region in the world that is not
connected to the global broadband infrastructure and accounts for less
than one percent of the world's international bandwidth capacity. As a
result of this 'missing link', the region relies on satellite
connectivity, with costs amongst the highest in the world.
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2 comments:
This is great news. I think this will go a really long way in bringing down the cost of bandwidth, as well as possibly a grant for one of the cables
so who exactly gets this cash ? and what kind of infrastructure exactly are we building here ? does this go towards another fiber cable to the coast :)
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