Written by Simnikiwe Mzekandaba | From IT Web Africa

The World Bank has approved a $92 million loan for the roll-out of a fibre network in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to a statement from the World Bank last week, its board of executive directors approved a grant to support the fifth phase of the ‘Central African Backbone Programme’ (CAB) for the DRC.

The national fibre optic network also plans to connect the country’s most populated economic clusters of Kinshasa (West), Goma (East) and Lubumbashi (South). The network is intended then to also connect to other countries.

“This project provides a unique opportunity to set up critical infrastructure and capitalise on the transformative power that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have to promote growth and open new job opportunities to Congolese citizens,” said Eustache Ouayoro, the World Bank’s country director for the DRC, in a statement.

By linking the three economic clusters, the network is also planned to provide private telecoms operators the opportunity to offer competitive, continuous services nationwide on a shared infrastructure network.

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