Pan-African technology group Liquid Technologies has partnered with Facebook to build a long-haul and metro fibre network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The new network is expected to improve internet access for more than 30 million people and help meet growing demand for regional connectivity across central Africa. Facebook will invest in the build and support network planning, while Liquid Technologies will own, build and operate the network, providing wholesale services to mobile network operators and internet service providers.
The network will help create a digital corridor from the Atlantic Ocean through the Congo Rainforest, to East Africa, and then the Indian Ocean. Liquid Technologies has been working on the digital corridor for more than two years, which now reaches Central DRC. This will connect DRC to its neighbouring countries including Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The new build will stretch from central DRC to the Eastern border with Rwanda and extend the reach of 2Africa, a major undersea cable that will land along both the East and West African coasts, and better connect Africa to the Middle East and Europe. The project will also create more than 5,000 jobs within the local communities to build the fibre network.
Nic Rudnick, group CEO at Liquid Intelligent Technologies said: ‘This is one of the most difficult fibre builds ever undertaken, crossing more than 2,000km of some of the most challenging terrain in the world. Liquid Technologies and Facebook have a common mission to provide affordable infrastructure to bridge connectivity gaps, and we believe our work together will have a tremendous impact on internet accessibility across the region.’
Ibrahima Ba, director of network investments, emerging markets at Facebook added: ‘This fibre build with Liquid Technologies is one of the most exciting projects we have worked on. We know that deploying fibre in this region is not easy, but it is a crucial part of extending broadband access to under-connected areas. We look forward to seeing how our fibre build will help increase the availability and improve the affordability of high-quality internet in DRC.’
