Summary
Project at Project Definition stage (S1) as of 2024, having advanced from Enabling Environment (S0) in 2020. February 2022: Presented at the 7th PIDA Week in Nairobi by the ECCAS Secretariat. March 2025: AUDA-NEPAD PISP midterm review workshop in Addis Ababa reinforced project preparation pipeline. Funding for pre-feasibility studies is the critical next step.
Description
Establishment of six new data centres in Burundi, Central African Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, alongside reinforcement of five existing centres in Angola, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The programme aims to secure Central African cyberspace, build user confidence in digital services, and regionalise intra-ECCAS data exchange to reduce latency and improve access times. The project was first incorporated in the PACDICE-AC institutional framework in 2019 and formally listed under PIDA PAP 2 (2021-2030) in 2020. Total programme investment estimated at USD 92.5 million across all components.
Project Risk
Implementation complexity and coordination across 11 countries in different stages of digital readiness; Technical standards harmonisation required; Funding mobilisation for pre-feasibility studies not yet secured; Power supply reliability in several target countries
Countries
Burundi, Central African Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo