[afnog] AfricaConnect project signed

Wed May 11 14:00:22 UTC 2011

*Africa-Europe research collaboration to be transformed by EC-funded
research infrastructure*

*Boost for African research as European Commission injects €14.75M into
regional research and education connectivity*

* *

*Gaborone, Botswana, and Cambridge, UK, 11 May  2011:* DANTE, the
international research network operator, and the European Commission’s
EuropeAid Cooperation Office today announce the signature of a €14.75M
contract for support to a sub-Saharan African intra-regional research
networking infrastructure which is already interconnected to the
pan-European research network, GÉANT. Eighty percent of the project’s
funding will come from the European Commission’s EuropeAid Co-operation
Office, and the remainder will be contributed by the African partners in the
project.

The contract represents a significant injection of capital to develop
research networking infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa and with
Europe. The initiative will dramatically accelerate the development of the
Information Society in Africa, providing advanced data communications
infrastructure and enabling African researchers to collaborate more easily
in advanced international research projects.

Within the framework of the Africa Caribbean Pacific Islands (ACP)
programme, the AfricaConnect project will establish a high-capacity Internet
network for research and education in Southern and Eastern Africa to provide
the region with a gateway to global research collaboration, the objective of
which is to overcome the current limitations of international research
collaboration within sub-Saharan Africa and towards Europe, and to foster
research and education collaboration and advancement within and between
these regions.

The project will be strongly collaborative, so whilst DANTE will coordinate
AfricaConnect, they will be partnered by DANTE’s regional counterpart
organisations in Africa – UbuntuNet Alliance covering Eastern and Southern
Africa, and WACREN covering Western and Central Africa – as well as the
Association of African Universities; existing National Research and
Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda
and Zambia); and several European NRENs (Germany, Ireland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal and the UK). All will work to ensure that the project
benefits all of sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are delighted to see this project underway,” said Cathrin Stöver,
DANTE’s International Relations Manager. “DANTE has a strong history of
supporting regional connectivity including actions in South America and
Asia, and we will build on this experience to support African research and
education networks as together they transform the research environment in
Africa. DANTE always puts the emphasis on partnership in this kind of
activity, and we are therefore excited to be working with such a strong
group of partners on a project of this importance.”

Eng. Dr Francis Tusubira, CEO of the UbuntuNet Alliance agrees: “For the
Alliance, this support is invaluable, since our challenges run from the
macro-challenge of establishing regional connectivity in a geographical area
that could contain the whole of Europe several times over, to the
comparative micro-challenge of ensuring that each NREN has the human
capacity to set up and operate their national network. Achievement of the
impossible is our mantra, and we appreciate the support of the European
Commission in this respect - their funding makes the achievement of the
impossible a whole lot easier!”

DANTE will soon announce an international tender for the connectivity and
equipment required for the AfricaConnect project. The infrastructure is
expected to be operational by early 2012.

The AfricaConnect project is expected to last for four years, after which
time the African Project Partners of AfricaConnect will ensure the
sustainability of the intra-regional African research network and its direct
connection to GÉANT.

*About DANTE*

DANTE is a non-profit organisation, coordinator of large-scale projects
co-funded by the European Commission, and working in partnership with
European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) to plan, build and
operate advanced networks for research and education. Established in 1993,
DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and
education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT, which provides the
data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research
projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to
interconnect countries in the other regions to one another and to GÉANT.
DANTE currently manages projects focussed on the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific
and central Asia regions through the EUMEDCONNECT, TEIN and CAREN projects
respectively. For more information, visit www.dante.net.

*About the UbuntuNet Alliance*

UbuntuNet Alliance is, at both the conceptual and implementation levels, a
commitment and movement by member NRENs to unlocking Africa’s intellectual
potential by ensuring that African Researchers and Educators achieve equity
with the rest of the world in terms of ease and cost of access to the global
information Infrastructure as well as opportunities for research
collaboration . The UbuntuNet Alliance was established in 2005 and
registered in 2006 as a not-for-profit regional association of NRENs in
Eastern and Southern Africa and currently has 13 members.

In January 2009, UbuntuNet Alliance established a 1Gb/s IP interconnection
with the GEANT network in London. This connection has recently been upgraded
as fibre has become available, prices drop and demands from NRENs increase,
The upgrade includes a 10Gb/s IP connection to GEANT and a new 10-Gbps link
for dedicated point-to-point connectivity, making Sub-Saharan Africa the
first world region outside North America to gain dedicated circuit capacity
with Europe. Therefore, the AfricaConnect project builds on a proven
relationship between Europe and sub Sahara Africa. For more information
visit www.ubuntunet.net

-- 
Tiwonge Msulira Banda,

Mobile: +26 59 99 34 07 40
Alt Email: tiwonge at banda.name

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18 (KJV)

-- 
Tiwonge Msulira Banda,

Mobile: +26 59 99 34 07 40
Alt Email: tiwonge at banda.name

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18 (KJV)
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