Congolese Fiber Optic Company (SOCOF SA) has reportedly signed a partnership with the Agency for the Coordination and Monitoring of Collaboration Agreements (APCSC) to deploy optical fibre networks along new roads to be built in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
According to the Ecofin Agency, SOCOF and APCSC signed an agreement on Wednesday committing to the project. SOCOF is a government-owned entity tasked with managing fibre-optic deployments in the DRC. APCSC is a government agency formed in 2022 to oversee implementation of cooperation agreements between the DRC and private companies, particularly those related to basic infrastructure and natural resources.
In a post on social media site X (formerly Twitter), Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Augustin Kibassa Maliba said the project aims to install conduits and optical fibre on road routes being built under a recent mining infrastructure contract between the DRC and GEC, a consortium of Chinese companies.
Under that contract – which was signed at the end of January 2024 to update an existing deal signed in 2008 – GEC will provide US$7 billion in funding to build around 7,000 km of roads across the country in exchange for continued access to state-owned cobalt and copper mines. According to Radio France Internationale, the DRC has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, which is an essential component used for electric vehicles.
“The responsibility has been given to SOCOF to be the project management unit in the data infrastructures that will be deployed by the APCSC. And therefore, all the infrastructures that will be deployed in the country will be equipped with fibre at the same time, " Freddy-David Lukaso, special advisor to the Head of State for Post, Telecommunications and NTIC, told Ecofin.
“This agreement marks an important step in the development of digital infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the improvement of connectivity and economic growth across the country,” Maliba said on X..
The SOCOF/APCSC deal is the latest move by the DRC government to build up the country’s digital infrastructure. In 2022, Paratus Group’s DRC subsidiary Fast Congo was awarded a tender by SOCOF to deploy, operate and maintain a 620-km fibre optic link between Muanda on the west coast and the capital of Kinshasa under an exclusive 15-year licence. Fast Congo lit up the new fibre link in March 2023.
Earlier this week, the Regulatory Authority for Post and Telecommunications of Congo (ARPTC) said that mobile internet usage has grown 40% over a three year period, from 20.7 million users in Q3 2020 to 28.9 million in Q3 2023. However, that works out to around 27.8% user penetration, meaning the vast majority of people in the DRC remain offline.
For the same period, according to ARPTC, the overall mobile subscriber base grew from 39.9 million to 56.1 million for close to 54% market penetration.