Burundi’s Agency for Regulation and Control of Telecoms (Agence de Regulation et de Controle des Telecoms, ARCT) has officially launched the ‘Burundi Broadband’ project, an eight-year programme covering the period from 2018 to 2025, which aims to make Burundi one of the most connected countries in the world.
Field work on the project will begin in earnest in January 2018, with the ultimate goal being to cover a total area of 27,834 square kilometres with broadband connectivity. Agence Ecofin quotes ARCT director Donatien Manirampa as saying: ‘Burundi has the lowest internet connection rate in the East African region because only 5% of the eleven million Burundians have access to the internet. Worse, only less than 2% of Burundians have access to the broadband connection’. Whilst no costing or budget for the project has been provided, Burundi Broadband will be funded entirely from state coffers.