(Ecofin Agency) - Yesterday September 14, 2021, Benin and China signed close to US$40 million concessional loan agreement for the implementation of the broadband internet project PDRHD. The deal was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Aurélien Agbénonci, representing Benin (the beneficiary), and Peng Jingtao, Chinese ambassador to Benin.

According to minister Aurélien Agbénonci, the funds thus provided will help install over 484.1 kilometers of fiber optics in four departments: Mono, Zou, Collines, and the North.

They will also help build a 204.8-kilometer metropolitan broadband network covering ten urban areas, including Route des pêches, the 40-km trunk road connecting economic capital Cotonou to the historical city Ouidah.

"The project will also help connect lake zones to the national fiber optics backbone thanks to the beam technology to allow everyone access to digital technologies in Benin," the official commented.

PDRH is a supplemental project to PDI2T launched by the government in 2016 in the telecom and IT sector. There is no current statistic about the PDI2T but as of April 2018, two months before its projected deadline, it was already 83% completed with 67 out of the 77 municipalities targeted connected to the national backbone.