Kenya to make up mind on EASSy

NAIROBI--Kenya is set to decide whether to remain in the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy). Kenya is among the 14 countries that have not signed the protocol for the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to manage EASSy. The countries were given up to November 30 to sign up. Speaking on the sidelines of the first East Africa Wireless Broadband Conference, Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo noted that Kenya opted to establish its own undersea fibre optic cable following frustrations with EASSy. “After we got frustrated with EASSy, we decided to seek a cabinet approval for the establishment of The East African Marine Systems (Teams)”.

According to Dr Ndemo, even those countries that have already signed the protocol are feeling frustrated and would like to pull out. “Even if Kenya signs up today, the project may not take off immediately as contentious issues have not been addressed. The contentious issues, according to Dr Ndemo, include funding, ownership and management. Kenya, for instance, has fully liberalized its ICT sector and would not like to be placed at the same level with countries like Mozambique that are still practicing monopoly. He referred to the takeover by Nepad of the EASSy project as ‘government interference with the private sector’. He decried the fact that the SPV is being led by one country with one veto power—South Africa. “We believe in democracy. We have practiced it for over 40 years”, he said. He however noted that EASSy is a political project and Kenya cannot simply walk out before exhausting all avenues of negotiations.

Meanwhile, the government is ready with the money for the construction of Teams. “We have the money. The licence fees we collected from VTEL (the recently licensed second National Operator) alone is enough to construct the terrestrial network”, said a confident Dr Ndemo. Kenya has already signed a memorandum of understanding over Teams, connecting between its coastal city of Mombasa and Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman. The $110m project—a joint venture between the government and the private sector-- is expected to connect East and Horn of African countries to the rest of the world. Other monies will be raised from the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).

Acording to Dr Ndemo, the government will soon announce the start of the laying of the cable expected to bring down the cost of Internet connectivity, as several operators have been licensed. “We are also opening up rural Kenya faster than we thought”, he observed. The local tariffs are also expected to go down early next year. Dr Ndemo also urged the business community to invest in outsourcing services, which are becoming increasingly popular in Africa.