As part of the Central African Backbone (CAB) development project, the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic (CAR) will be connected by a 285km steel-reinforced, sub-river fiber optic connection designed to enhance business and communications between Congo and the Central African region.
Construction on the fiber-optic connection began in Congo’s capital city of Brazzaville and is expected to take seven months to complete. Global information and communications provider, Huawei, and telecommunications operator, China Communications Services International, will use a cable-laying barge to lay the fiber along the beds of the Congo River and crossing Ubangi River, connecting Brazzaville to CAR’s capital city of Bangui.
“This barge contains the necessary equipment to be able to carry out the fiber optic interconnection between our two states,” stated Léon Juste Ibombo, Congo’s Minister of Ports, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, adding, “We have come to launch the construction work of the fiber optic network between Congo and CAR, knowing that a large part of the border between the two countries is underwater.”
The CAB project is a fiber-optic internet development initiative designed to connect the countries within the Economic Community of Central African States through high-speed internet, thus diminishing the region’s reliance on foreign telecommunications infrastructure. Countries involved in the CAB project include Cameroon, CAR, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, The Republic of Congo, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The mobilization of telecommunications and high-speed fiber is expected to promote regional economic cooperation, developing the capacity for cross-border trade, interregional activities, as well as physical, economic, and monetary integration. For the Congo’s energy sector, this will open up new opportunities regarding regional cooperation, ushering in a new era of cross-border trade and progress.
Congo International Energy Summit 2022
The first-ever Congo International Energy Summit taking place in Brazzaville on the 15th – 17th of June 2022 will reunite regional and international government representatives and industry leaders to discuss the future role of natural gas as a regional and continental solution to address energy poverty, among many other issues. To find out more information regarding speaker or sponsorship opportunities at the Congo International Energy Summit please visit Cie-summit.com.
