African Research Associations Partner GÉANT for High-Speed Internet all over Africa

African research and education network associations, UbuntuNet Alliance, ASREN and WACREN have announced a partnership with their European counterpart, GÉANT to provide dedicated high-speed Internet all over Africa.

The project, named AfricaConnect2 and costing about €26.6 million, will see the development of high-capacity Internet networks across the entire African continent and connect them to GÉANT network, thereby allowing collaboration between students, researchers and academics in Africa and beyond.

AfricaConnect2 involves the UbuntuNet Alliance which operates the UbuntuNet network in Eastern and Southern Africa; WACREN which is building a regional network in West and Central Africa; ASREN which has been connecting Northern Africa following the Mediterranean EUMEDCONNECT project, and the European networking organisation GÉANT, which will strengthen and develop new connections with all pan-African networks, bringing R&E communities between the two continents together.

The three African networking associations will support local networks at different stages of the project and improve regional and international connectivity, and also encourage more institutions and countries to join.

Also, AfricaConnect2 will offer capacity building at a regional and continental level, supporting sustainable development and helping to build a more inclusive Information Society across Africa.

“Looking beyond the routers, switches and cables, the secret to a successful project is people. People as a close-knit community, with a pool of well-trained engineers who efficiently manage their networks and support their users to allow them to make a difference. AfricaConnect2’s ambition is to develop and nurture such a community spirit,”Chief International Relations and Communications Officer at GÉANT, Cathrin Stöver said in a press release.

The connectivity boost will not only advance research and education locally with opportunities like e-learning and cloud computing, but it will equally benefit scientific studies the world over in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, food security, malaria and other infectious diseases.

The EU development co-operation funds contributed up to €20m while the remaining €6.6m was contributed by the beneficiary partners towards the AfricaConnect2 project, which will be completed by the end of 2018.

This project follows the success of the AfricaConnect project, which contributed to the creation of the UbuntuNet – the high-speed network for research and education in Eastern and Southern Africa, between 2011 and 2015.