Benin is to install a second submarine broadband cable to increase its capacity for providing access to the Internet, official sources told PANA here Sunday.
The US$70 million West Africa Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme (Benin-WARCIP) developed in partnership with the World Bank, will increase the Internet capacity in Benin and avert a total blackout in case of failure of the country’s only submarine cable (SAT3).
The project will increase the coverage of broadband networks and reduce the costs of communication services in the country.
It will also address the issue of limited and non-competitive access provided by the current submarine cable.
The first phase of the project, worth US$35 million, is fully covered through the credit from the International Development Association (IDA), repayable over 40 years with 10 years grace period.
The grant agreement for the money was signed in 2012 between the World Bank and the Beninese authorities and ratified this week by the National Assembly, signalling the start of the project’s implementation.
A Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) has already been developed to compensate and mitigate negative social impacts associated with the implementation of the project, namely, loss of assets and income for people located along areas in which the optical fiber will be installed.
