Central African Republic: New digital era dawns with debut of high-speed internet cable

ABIDJAN  — Junior is a young student at a technical college in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, getting set to resume studies at the University of Bangui. From childhood, he has restlessly pursued interesting and ambitious ideas. A recent one: building a humanoid robot called “Mama Africa”, to raise awareness about African culture and the fight against global warming. He worked on it outside class hours, assembling the robot entirely from recycled materials.

To function optimally, Mama Africa requires a high-speed internet connection. Prior to 2023, this quality of connection could not be guaranteed in the Central African Republic. The situation began to change that year, when a 900-kilometre-long network of fibre-optic cables landed in the country as an extension from neighbouring Cameroon and Congo.

Funded by the African Development Bank and the European Union to the tune of €33 million, the new cable, is now rapidly ushering the CAR into a new and unprecedented digital age.

Junior can readily attest to the difference. “Previously, when it rained, the internet speed was low. Now, thanks to fibre optics, we have a stable and fast connection, even during harsh weather. What’s more, we can put Mama Africa online, so everyone can interact with her, wherever they happen to be,” he says.

“This project opens up the country in a new, digital way,” says Mamady Souare, the African Development Bank’s Country Manager for the Central African Republic. “We contributed by interlinking the country with its neighbours at the same time as establishing a digital centre. All that was missing was for the Central African Republic to complete the digital loop within the sub-region. We are laying the foundations for proper digital development in the country.”

Among other things, the new cable has enabled the launch of a digital training centre at the University of Bangui. The centre offers a range of virtual and in-person training courses, access to computers, 3D printers and personalised workshops to teach young people how to harness the potential of fibre optics and bring their projects to life.

“This centre gives students a unique opportunity to connect to the internet at a lower cost,” says Arc-ange Geoffroy Ouele-Nza-Bana Zacko, head of logistics and asset management at the Central African Agency for Digital Development, and a lecturer at the University of Bangui. “Fibre optics represent a real blessing for us.

“Today, the new bandwidth available to the population facilitates access to many services that were previously inaccessible, such as audio and, most importantly, video streaming,” adds Samatar Omar Elmi, Project Manager at the African Development Bank. “This opens up a new range of possibilities for a large number of young people wishing to undertake and innovate in the Central African Republic.”

“Previously, when it rained, the speed was low,” Junior recalls, visibly enthused by the topic. “Now, thanks to fibre optics, we have a stable and fast connection, even during harsh weather. What’s more, we can put Mama Africa online, so everyone can interact with her, wherever they happen to be.”

“In the initial phase that launched in 2023, the speed offered to the population has increased threefold, from 3 Gbps to 10 Gbps,” says Arc-ange. And this is just the beginning: the plan for the new cable envisions an expansion in coverage and speed, further opening up the Central African Republic to the world, and propelling it towards a future defined by boundless innovation.

Given the country’s geostrategic position at the confluence of the continent’s eastern and western shores, the wider impact of the new internet connection cannot be understated. Arc-ange sums up the impact: “We now have young people capable of developing apps and carrying out projects that we would never have imagined in our day.”