Direct phone links for African nations

Johannesburg, 13 Sep 2004

Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania are set to open direct telephone links with each other, following a decision to add telecommunications links to a power cable project the three countries are involved in.

The Southern Africa Development Community and the East African Community will set up a fibre-optic cable link by piggybacking an existing power inter-connector, which links the countries` electricity grids.

Fibre-optic lines will be installed along with the cables for the proposed power project, which was announced a year ago.

The project`s first phase is due to come online in 2007, with the second and final phase of the power inter-connector anticipated to be completed in 2012.

This fibre-optic telecommunications project will ensure direct phone access between three nations, which currently have to route calls via Europe or the US, as few international telephone links exist between African countries.

The three countries have discussed the implementation strategy for the project and will adopt a public-private partnership scheme, in which the three governments will have majority equity, although the bulk of the project`s estimated $649 million financing will come from the World Bank.

Next month, a bidding process will also see the selection of a private investor to co-finance the project.