African Development Bank approves $22.5m financing for Mali’s digital complex connecting fibre optic
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Executive Directors has approved a $22.5m loan to the Republic of Mali to finance a major digital complex in the capital, Bamako.
The project which costs $37 million has the AfDB as the largest financier. The Malian government will contribute $3 million and the French development agency will also contribute $11.5 million. The project will help “connect Mali through fiber optic to six out of its seven neighbours.”
The main objectives of the project, the AfDB says is to “increase the use of ICT and upgrade the skills of the population of Mali and other West African countries and to strengthen Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to support research and innovation in ICT.”
It consists of three main infrastructures; Technological Center, data center and technological village.
It is expected to be completed by December 2011, the AfDB said in a statement.
By Ekow Quandzie