By Spy Uganda
Tanzania plans to share its national broadband backbone infrastructure with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan; this comes after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uganda.
Tanzania Minister of Information, Communications, and Information Technology Nape Nnauye said on Friday, September 29, that the $28 million (Sh71 billion) MoU between two countries in conjunction with Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) is an opportunity to link Congo, the DRC, and South Sudan.
“Connecting ICT with Uganda will create another opportunity to connect with other countries, and the government will continue to invest more and manage the infrastructure so that they can be more productive,” he said.
According to him, the Ugandan decision will help to strengthen ICT infrastructure between the two countries.
This decision opens a new chapter for the growth and enhancement of the economy and business cooperation.
The decision will also help strengthen brotherhood and cooperation through enhanced communications in Uganda and the entire East Africa Community (EAC).
According to him, countries must continue to invest in technology, have good infrastructure, a good technology system, and experts in the sector.
He noted that to strengthen the communication sector, the government has done a number of things. “So far, we have recently signed a MoU with Malawi, signed a MoU with a mobile company, and today we are signing a bilateral MoU with Uganda.”
This shows that the technology sector has been well managed, and the decision to bring a national broadband backbone to TTCL was perfect.
He urged TTCL to effectively manage the contract and provide services according to the terms of the contract so that Uganda can give a testimony about the services offered by Tanzania when they compare with other countries that offer similar products.
Uganda’s minister responsible for information, communications, technology, and national guidance, Mr. Chris Baryomunsi, said the MoU marks a significant milestone in the quest to strengthen the ties between nations and foster collaboration in the field of information and technology.
“We must also link the internet with South Sudan, the Congo, the DRC, and other African countries to link Africa. This will bridge digital devices, boost innovation, and stimulate economic growth. We are not only going to link the ICT backbone; we have already agreed to an oil pipeline from Tanzania to Uganda through Tanga,” he said.
He noted that Africa is surrounded by oceans, and the oceans have a lot of cables on the ground, more than what is underneath, so there is a need to connect Africa so that the cables remain on the ground and get Africa connected and linked.
According to him, the MoU represents partnership on shared value; therefore, Uganda is committed to collaborating on the development and sharing of national ITC infrastructure in underserved areas.
He noted that they will work closely to enhance cyber security capabilities and protect shared ICT from threats, invest in human capital development and knowledge of exchange programmes to ensure a work force in a well-equipped digital economy by creating job opportunities, and foster innovation and regional integration.
He noted that the MoU partnership is not just about connecting cables and infrastructure; it is about coming with the responsibilities to transform people’s lives and enabling opportunities.
“Technology is moving fast, fourth industrial, and now going to fifth revolution. We should work hard to see that such technologies do not become textbooks and translate them into reality; they must have an impact on women and youth and use them to transform our people in technology,” he said.
