Egypt’s Benya Group announced, on Sunday, that it has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to develop the African country’s communications infrastructure.
The agreement was signed by the Egyptian company and the DRC’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information and Communication Technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Benya will spearhead the development of the DRC’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT), infrastructure through the establishment of an end-to-end National Fibre Optics Network (NFON).
The project will digitally connect cities across the DRC, and significantly improve accessibility to high-quality and high-speed network services across the African country at a low cost.
Following the announcement, and in collaboration with the Egyptian African Arab Company for Development (EGAAD), the two sides will work together to build infrastructure according to international industry standards.
The Egyptian-DRC engagement will be executed across two phases, the first of which will see the network’s implementation. The second phase will cover operations, and the provision of seamless digital services.
As the largest fibre optics manufacturer in the region, Benya will provide the cables through its factory, which was established in partnership with the Arab Organisation for Industrialization (AOI) and leading international fibre optics manufacturer, Corning International.
“The two parties will enter into a working session to analyse the financial, legal and technical parameters to prepare the signing of the contract, which will take place as soon as the two parties have set the terms of the partnership which will now govern them,” the DRC ministry said.
“African countries have every potential to adopt and accelerate digital transformation services as a driver for growth, and New Digital transformation services require high-speed digital highways,” said Benya Chairperson and CEO, Ahmed Mekky, “Over the past few years, Egypt has witnessed an unprecedented growth in digital transformation backed by strong governmental support. Benya has contributed to nationwide projects as part of the New Administrative Capital (NAC), and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Enterprises Sector transformations, and is fervent in its Africa expansion.”
Mekky added that the company intends to leverage Egypt’s expertise and transfer its knowledge to support the ICT infrastructure of African countries, alongside digital transformation projects and services.
Osama Qadan, CCO at Benya, said, “Under the terms of this agreement, the company will work with the DRC’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information and Communication Technologies over the coming few months, to plan and execute this state-of-the-art fibre optics network by employing the industry’s best-practices.
Qadan added, “Once completed, this network will add unprecedented capacities to the DRC digital infrastructure, and allow the government to connect its citizens to new worlds of digital services.”
