NEPAD signs €1.3m Grant Facility Agreement for ICT infrastructure

The NEPAD Agency Thursday, February 2, 2012, signed a Grant Facility Agreement (GFA) with French Development Agency (AFD), a French public institution, towards the financing of the NEPAD ICT broadband infrastructure network for West, Central and North Africa project.

The grant of one million three hundred and fifty thousand Euros (EUR 1,350,000,00), was made available to NEPAD Agency by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-ITF), a European donor coordinated fund, through the AFD.

A press statement from the NEPAD Agency announcing this, said the project is part of Umojanet, a terrestrial network that will link every African country to its neighbours and will connect to Uhurunet, to realise the dream of the cross-border continental NEPAD Network.

According to the statement issued Friday, February 3, 2012 from Midrand South Africa, the grant completes the initial funds of 850 000 Euros granted by the AFD to the NEPAD secretary to support the initiative.

Commenting on the grant during the signing ceremony at the NEPAD Agency offices, Midrand, South Africa, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NEPAD Agency, said, “This is an opportune moment for us both, AFD and NEPAD, to focus on ICT as a crucial element in developing infrastructure in Africa and we welcome this support to NPCA as the development Agency of the African Union”.

For his part, Mr. Yves Boudot, Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Department of AFD, expressed his satisfaction to proceed with the signature and noted that “as the case with AFD support to NEPAD ICT continental infrastructure developments, AFD is ready to discuss and widen the scope of collaboration to address other continental infrastructure development challenges”.

The AFD, a specialised development financial institution, funds sustainable development projects carried by government local authorities, public companies, and the private and associative sectors on five continents – with primacy given to Africa.

By Edmund Smith-Asante

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Shares