World Bank approves USD 92.1 mln loan for DRC fibre backbone

The World Bank has approved a USD 92.1 million loan over five years to support the fifth phase of the Central African Backbone network that the objectives of the project are to increase the geographical reach and usage of regional broadband infrastructure and to reduce the price of services to give more people in the DRC access to information and communication technology services. Le Potentiel reports the backbone will connect the Democratic Republic of Congo's main economic cities to each other and, via neighbouring countries, to regional and international networks. Missing segments will be added to the national fibre network to connect the biggest cities, Kinshasa in the West, Goma in the East and Lubumbashi in the South. The project also calls for public-private partnerships.