Pan-African businessman Strive Masiyiwa has expressed his delight at the completion of the landmark fibre link from Cape Town to the DRC’s western port city of Moanda.
Masiyiwa wrote:
#Cape Town to Moanda!
Now unless you are from the DRC (or an Africa enthusiast like me) you have probably never heard of this place called ‘Moanda’.
It is actually a Port City on the Atlantic Ocean and the main Port for the DRC, a country of nearly 100 million people.
It has taken us more than 15 years to finally get there!
If you ask any Telecoms engineer, “What is harder to build; #Cape to Cairo, or #Cape to Moanda?”
They will tell you, it is #Cape to Moanda!
Why?
Because you have to cross the Congo Forest (the second largest forest in the world, after Amazon), and it is all 2 400km of dense forest!
It is now complete, and Commissioning is now in progress.
By the end of October, Voice and Data traffic will flow from SA, through Zimbabwe and Zambia to Kinshasa. Since we have a link from Tanzania to Zambia, we can also move traffic into the DRC directly from the Indian Ocean, and therefore from Asia!
Last year I met with Presidents Tshisekedi (of the DRC) and Lourenco (of Angola) in Luanda and we agreed to add a link from Inga Dam in the DRC, through to Angola’s capital Luanda, as an extension to our work.
Done!
It is being Commissioned as I write!
So many people have been involved in this amazing Project, including the World Bank.
I remember traveling to see the then WB President Jim Kim in Washington DC to lobby for funding on behalf of the DRC, as only they could fund part of the Project. It was so difficult.
I find it difficult to accept that it has finally been completed!
All I can say is: “Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be part of this!”
I am planning my first trip, since the lockdowns. It will take me to SA, Zambia, DRC, Angola and Rwanda.
I will write some more on our work in the DRC in the weeks to come. Opening up this huge country to the Digital Economy is one of my passions.
#EntrepreneurIT!
