MainOne, a West African premier connectivity and data center solution provider, has been chosen by the government of Burkina Faso with financial backing from the World Bank to provide PAV-Burkina with bulk capacity to nodes in Bobo Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.
Being a landlocked nation, Burkina Faso has been faced with a lot of challenges in terms of accessing world-class connectivity and widespread internet access due to the lack of infrastructure and the reluctance to explore operational broadband service delivery in the country by major operators.
In response to this challenge, the Burkina Faso government in collaboration with an association of mobile operators and internet service providers, has come up with the PRICAO Initiative.
The PRICAO Initiative was created to bring about the birth of virtual landing points as a platform for the extension of broadband network coverage in the country. The Initiative aims to upgrade the quality of connectivity, increase the use of the internet, and facilitate the overall performance of ICT services in the country.
With the support of the World Bank, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Postal Services has created a cooperative association to set up an independent and competitive structure for connectivity services. The association brings together significant electronic service stakeholders to complete a turnkey project that will make fiber optics transmission between Ouagadougou and Dakola possible.
Burkinabe State has been able to set up a 200km fiber optics transmission link from Ouagadougou to Dakola, thanks to the $20 million plus the World Bank shelved out in support of the PRICAO Initiative.
The first phase of the project commenced in 2018, phase two of the project will commence in the second quarter of 2020 and MainOne has been appointed to deliver phase two of the project.
MainOne is expected to provide Ouagadougou with 10Gbps broadband and Bobo Dioulasso with 5Gbps.
With the financial support of the World Bank and the technical support of the PAV BF cooperative, broadband internet penetration increased from 10% to 19% in 2019.
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