The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency has signed a grant facility agreement towards the financing of its information and communication technology (ICT) broadband infrastructure network for West, Central and North Africa project.

The Grant Facility Agreement (GFA) was signed on Thursday, February 2, with French Development Agency (AFD), a French public institution. 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.

The NEPAD ICT Broadband Infrastructure Program – the Umojanet project is a terrestrial network that is expected to link every African country to its neighbors and connect to Uhurunet, to realize the dream of the cross-border continental NEPAD Network. The project will also connect the continent to the rest of the world through broadband fibre-optic submarine cables. It will provide abundant bandwidth, easier connectivity, reduced costs, and help integrate the continent by facilitating trade, social, and cultural exchange between countries.

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 the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (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 French Development Agency (AFD), a specialized 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.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a program of the African Union (AU) adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2001. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders to pursue new priorities and approaches to the political and socio-economic transformation of Africa. NEPAD’s objective is to enhance Africa’s growth, development and participation in the global economy. Read more about NEPAD’s principles, program of action, priorities and desired outcomes.