The European Investment Bank (EIB) has revealed a bold initiative to accelerate digitalisation in Africa by connecting over two million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as efforts to reduce the digital divide in the region intensify.
To achieve this, the EIB has partnered with Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS), a wholesale telecom infrastructure provider, to deploy new infrastructure in the DRC that will facilitate high-speed internet coverage.
BCS specialises in providing fiber-optic connectivity solutions to more than 80 million end-users, with its network coverage spanning over 12,500 km. This announcement was made by the EIB on Saturday.
BCS has high hopes for the DRC project, as it aims to connect over 2.5 million individuals to the internet at a cost-effective and dependable rate. The project will also have positive implications for 319 schools and 70 hospitals, making it a key part of the DRC’s National Plan for digital transformation.
The EIB and BCS collaboration comes at a time when there is an increasing demand to make internet access affordable in Africa.
According to a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released last year, Africans paid more than three times the global median price for mobile broadband services, and over five times the global median for fixed broadband in 2021.
The ITU secretary-general at the time, Houlin Zhao, emphasised that broadband services are no longer just a luxury but a necessity for communication, teleworking, online education, and other essential services. However, affordability remains a critical issue that needs urgent attention if universal and meaningful connectivity is to be achieved.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is investing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) project, which involves the construction of 1,200 kilometers of fiber as part of the 20,000 kilometers planned by BCS in Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa over the next three years.
The project is part of the EIB’s Global Gateway program, which provides partner countries with sustainable connections and new fiber-optic infrastructure to enable high-speed broadband internet in homes, schools, and hospitals.
During the Kinshasa Economic Forum on Saturday 4 March, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and BCS signed an agreement that allows BCS to install a new fiber-optic backbone in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The warrant agreement is a result of a $10 million quasi-equity investment from EIB Global, which is the EIB’s branch dedicated to international partnerships and development finance. The financing package will provide BCS with the necessary funding to support its immediate needs and long-term growth.
Yonas Maru, founder and managing director of BCS Group, stated that achieving this milestone is crucial to their objective of delivering speedy, superior, and reasonably priced digital connectivity to underprivileged regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and throughout Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa. He also mentioned that their ongoing collaboration with the EIB will allow them to progress with their plan to expand their optic network by constructing more than 20,000 kilometers of digital infrastructure, with 12,000 kilometers of it located in the DRC.
Thomas Östros, who holds the position of vice-president at EIB, expressed his satisfaction with the partnership between the bank and BCS. This collaboration is aligned with EIB’s goal to accelerate digitalization in Africa, specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Östros emphasized the significance of digital technology as a means to promote equity, inclusion, and growth. The European Union recognizes the power of digital technology so much that it has become a core element of its Global Gateway strategy. Through the expansion of fiber-optic infrastructure, local communities, schools, and hospitals can now benefit from mobile broadband, which opens up new opportunities for education, business, employment, and healthcare.
