ECOWAS delegation visits Guinea for Amilcar Cabral Submarine IT Cable discussions

Dr. Omar Alieu Touray President at Economic Community of West African States
Dr. Omar Alieu Touray President at Economic Community of West African States | Twitter Website

The Amilcar Cabral IT cable project aims to connect Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone through a submarine cable network. The objectives of the project are to enhance international telecommunications capacity, improve access to digital services, and provide essential redundancy to guarantee broadband internet resilience.

Within the scope of the project development, an ECOWAS delegation led by Mr. Sediko Douka, the Honorable Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization undertook a mission on June 3rd, 2024 to Conakry in the Republic of Guinea. The mission was facilitated by H.E. Louis-Blaise Aka-Brou, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Guinea and included officers from the Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU).

Following the recent launch of the West Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP) project through which The Gambia and Guinea have mobilized financing from the World Bank for project implementation, the objective of the mission was to consult with Ministers of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Economy as well as Planning and International Cooperation on key issues to ensure successful and timely implementation of the Amilcar Cabral cable project.

The mission was briefed on Guinea’s preparedness for project implementation and held discussions on several key issues: phased implementation while maintaining its regional character; establishment of a national Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in line with financing institutions' prerequisites; expediting necessary permits issuance; and establishing a seed fund for project preparation.

The mission met with M. Ismael Nabe, Honorable Minister of Planning and International Cooperation; M. Nouha Traore, Secretary General of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Economy; along with their respective directors and heads of services/agencies. Elhadj Ibrahima Diallo, Head of Guinea’s ECOWAS National Office, also participated in discussions.

Additionally, the mission paid a courtesy visit to the Office of the ECOWAS Resident Representative in Guinea where discussions focused on regional programs and projects in the Water Resources sector.




Top