The Minister of Digital Economy inaugurated on March 27 in Lambaréné, the additional Central African Backbone fiber optic project (CAB4 +). “Lambaréné is therefore now the point to interconnect the rest of the country in a next phase of the project”, rejoiced Edgard Anicet Mboumbou Miyakou.
The additional Central African Backbone (CAB4 +) was inaugurated on March 27 in Lambaréné by the Digital Economic Minister. “Lambaréné is therefore now the point that must interconnect the rest of the country in a next phase of the project, to achieve the mesh of Gabon in optical fibre as desired by the highest authorities”, rejoiced Edgard Anicet Mboumbou Miyakou. As the result of sub-regional cooperation, this ambitious project aims to interconnect all the capitals of the sub-region with optical fibre while making it possible to connect all the cities crossed by this infrastructure.
Financed with the World Bank’s support, the project has already made it possible, in its first phase inaugurated in Bakoumba in April 2018, to achieve 1000 optical fibres between Libreville and Franceville, up to Lékoko, the border with the Republic of Congo.
The link thus constructed crosses five provinces: Estuary, Moyen-Ogooué, Ogooué-Ivindo, Ogooué-Lolo and Haut-Ogooué). This has since been operational and made available to economic operators. With this in mind, the government has requested “additional” funding to deploy the network on the one hand on the North axis from Booué to Meyokyé, the border with Equatorial Guinea and then to Eboro, the border with Cameroon. And, on the other hand, the Oyane-Lambaréné axis.
The next project phase provides for the fibre optic connection of the provinces of Ngounié and Nyanga as well as the capital of Ogooué Ivindo. The works on the Cab4 + infrastructure were scheduled in September 2018 to be completed on October 30, 2020.
An operational commissioning phase was necessary by the provisions of the specifications to validate the compliance of the works. It includes a length of 528 km of optical fibre with seven technical centres allowing operators to connect to the network in the localities crossed. The total amount of the project is 13 billion CFA francs.
