Burundi and Zambia are to be connected via an underwater fibre optic cable, following an agreement at the second Digital Government Africa Summit, which took place from 2-4 October 2024 in Zambia’s capital Lusaka.
The summit, a format of dedicated pre-scheduled meetings between industry and government ministers and officials, played host to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that paves the way for the cable to be submersed in Lake Tanganyika, connecting the Northern province of Zambia with Burundi’s southernmost province of Makamba.
According to the ITWeb Africa news service, a private firm has been contracted for the project, but has not yet been named, though another service, TechAfrica, says it has already laid 350 kilometres of the cable between the two countries in Lake Tanganyika.
Burundi will become the ninth country to be connected to Zambia by cable, following Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Felix Mutati, Zambia’s science and technology minister, has been quoted as saying: “The connection of the two countries will make Zambia a regional hub for information and communication technology.”
Léocadie Ndacayisaba, Burundi’s minister of communication, technology and information, has added that the signing of the MoU paved the way for more collaborations between Zambia and Burundi.
The 2024 Digital Government Africa Summit attracted over 500 delegates including over 20 cabinet ministers from 33 countries.
