At the recent Economic Forum in Kinshasa, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group (BCS), a pan-African wholesale telecommunications infrastructure provider, signed a warrant agreement that will enable BCS to move forward with its plans to install a new network fiber optic backbone in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The warrant agreement follows a $10 million quasi-equity investment by EIB Global, a division of EIB dedicated to international cooperation and development financing. The financing package addresses BCS' immediate capital needs to support its rapid and long-term growth.
The partners say that more than 2.5 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo will benefit from faster, cheaper and more reliable digital connectivity and sustainable links to partner countries as a result of BCS' rollout of new fiber network investments and support from Under Global Gateway.
The new fiber infrastructure will enable high-speed broadband Internet in homes, schools and hospitals, open access to digital services and information, and contribute to the country's digital transformation.
The BCS investment supported by the EIB will connect areas that are currently underserved by high-speed telecommunications. Better access to the Internet will open up new opportunities for local entrepreneurs and support job creation. In addition, direct telecommunications connections to 319 schools and 70 hospitals and health centers will improve education and public health.
The investment will also enable conflict-affected areas to benefit from better mobile broadband coverage and reliable communications.
The BCS Group has entered into a long-term funding partnership with the European Investment Bank. This is part of the EIB's continued partnership with BCS following $18 million in funding provided in 2018.
This investment will build 1,200 kilometers of fiber as part of the 20,000 kilometers of fiber that BCS plans to build in Southern, Central and Eastern Africa over the next three years.
