The World Bank announced, Wednesday, the launch of a regional initiative to improve broadband connectivity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The World Bank’s broadband initiative will study the potential of developing regional broadband backbone networks in MEAN and prepare the ground for new investments.
The study is expected to tackle the main bottlenecks to broadband connectivity in the region, the WB said.
The MENA region has been actively increasing broadband connections and, as of today, broadband connects over a quarter of MEAN households, noted the World Bank in a press release posted on its Web site. “Broadband traffic in the region would grow over 100% in the next five years,” it predicts, “making MENA the fastest growing region in the world with Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The World Bank study will cover the region’s international and domestic connectivity and will produce four country case studies focused on utility infrastructure in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.
The Broadband Connectivity Initiative is part of the World Bank’s Arab World Initiative and is supported by the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) and the Korean Government.
