African countries back away from Nepad project

In the wake of objections from incumbent telecommunications operators, the participation of Zambia and other eastern and southern African countries in the Nepad broadband project is on the knife edge as the countries look to fiber-optic alternatives.

Although Zambia's Ministry of Communications and Transport signed on to the Nepad broadband project through the Kigali Protocol, the government has not ratified the project after the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) raised objections.

The government of Botswana last year said it was investing about US$100 million in the East Africa Submarine cable System (EASSY) project instead of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) broadband project.

The Ugandan government has also raised objection to the Nepad project, claiming the project's guidelines may prevent national telecommunications companies from investing in it.

The Ugandan government said ratification of the protocol would essentially be inviting Uganda Telecom Company to invest in the project, but the protocol does not specify whether the company, in fact, may invest.

The EASSY project is a broadband cable system being laid under the Indian Ocean by private investors, and will run parallel to the Nepad cable.

Most African national operators became members of the EASSY project long before the Nepad broadband infrastructure project was formed in 2007.

The Zambian government has not ratified the project because of objections that had been raised by Zamtel, according to Victor Mbumwae, director of communication in the Zambian Ministry of Communications and Transport.

"Zamtel is already a member of the EASSY project. The company is therefore finding it challenging to join the Nepad project and below to two projects," Mbumwae said.

Whereas the EASSY project is already off the ground, the Nepad project has not yet started and so far seems to be behind schedule, according to Mbumwae.

Mbumwae said the Nepad project was also faced with a challenge of getting money from the World Bank to finance the project as the bank was already financing the EASSY project.

The project was supposed to be completed before the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, to provide broadband services to member countries.

Nepad's e-Africa Commission, formed to help develop ICT policies, strategies and projects, has been coordinating the signing and ratification of the Kigali Protocol for the Nepad broadband project.

Zamtel is free to sign to both the Nepad broadband project and the EASSY project, according to Edmund Katiti, Nepad's e-Africa commission policy and regulatory advisor. Katiti said that unlike the EASSY project, which will only connect Zamtel, the Nepad broadband project will connect and benefit the whole country.

The Kigali Protocol was negotiated by a wide range of stakeholders and was accepted and signed by 12 countries in the eastern and southern Africa. The protocol takes account of the Nepad network principles in the development of a policy and regulatory framework for the region as well as the details of a special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Baharicom, a consortium made up of regional telecom companies that will own, operate and maintain the network.

The Nepad broadband infrastructure network comprises of Uhurunet (the submarine cable) and Umojanet, the terrestrial cable aimed at providing telecommunication connectivity to east and southern Africa and the rest of Africa.