Gambia’s minister for Communication and Digital Economy has confirmed that the country has secured funding for a second submarine cable, as part of the WADI project funded by the World Bank.
Speaking to the National Assembly, Ousman A. Bah noted that the funding was worth around US$30-35 million, and expressed hope that the cable would be active by 2025. As quoted by local outlet The Point, Bah noted that it was necessary to seek funding from outside the ministry’s budget.
“We were given about D90 million for the entire ministry which hardly sustains our operations. Therefore, we need to go out and look for a vendor or a provider who is willing to give us the submarine cable on a BOT as it is the most efficient way to get a second submarine cable,” said Bah.
“We consulted WADI if they could fund the project. So, because of the size of the funding, we partner with Guinea Conakry to make it cheaper. So now the submarine cable will be coming from Cape Verde to The Gambia directly.”
“We have the ACE…and that’s where we are getting our capacity, and we also have a backup which is the satellite internet we are working on…We are anticipating by the end of September of this year, Starling will have the full licensing to operate in The Gambia. This means we cannot just rely on the ACE to complement the internet access; rather through satellite.”