Two more sign Eassy protocol

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 16 Oct 2006

Only two of the expected seven countries signed the East African Submarine System (Eassy) protocol this morning, with logistical difficulties hampering the unsigned, says a Department of Communications spokesman.

This morning Zimbabwe and Botswana joined the Eassy project, while Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi, Somalia and Zambia (which were expected to sign) did not do so.

The two countries join Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar and SA, which signed the protocol at a ceremony in Rwanda in late August.

This means nine out of the original 23 countries that agreed to the implementation of the Eassy project in 2003 have signed the protocol ahead of the 30 November deadline.

"Countries that have not signed have still expressed their willingness to do so, and realise that they have some time ahead of the deadline," says the department spokesman, adding that Zambia, whose new ICT minister has only been in office for about a week, said it agrees in principle, but would re-examine the protocol first.

Delegates from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Sudan, Zambia and SA are attending the Eassy protocol meeting in Cape Town today. A press conference is scheduled to be held at midday.

No hint

SA`s minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, kicked off the proceedings by welcoming the delegates, but gave no hint of who else was due to sign the Eassy protocol.

Henry Chasia, head of the Nepad e-Africa commission, says the Eassy project`s aim is to build a broadband fibre optic network on land and in the sea that will span fully one half of this continent, and when completed, will connect 23 countries to one another and the rest of the world.

Chasia says this project envisages a level of collaboration among African countries unprecedented in scale and vision.

He says while the project has had its frustrations, there is now a large and growing constituency in support of the development of this network.

"The stakeholders may not all agree on the modalities but they all agree on the need for the network, and the need for it to be constructed as soon as possible."