(Ecofin Agency) - Earlier this year, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso announced investments to increase broadband penetration in the country. This is one of the government’s top priorities.

The Burkinabe government is currently preparing a two-phase project to develop Internet connectivity in urban areas. Phase I will target the cities of Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Koudougou, while the second will be deployed in the other regional capitals. On Friday 17 September, the technical and financial feasibility study for the project was presented to public and private telecom players during a workshop organized by the Ministry of Digital Economy, Posts, and Digital Transformation.

The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy, Kisito Traoré (pictured), said the project’s importance lies in the "significant territorial disparities. The majority of the population has limited broadband access, and access to very high speed internet is marginal.” This improvement in connectivity will eventually allow urban populations to access a very high-speed connection through optical fiber, he added.

Delivering his general policy statement before the National Assembly on  February 4, 2021, Prime Minister Christophe Dabiré unveiled the government's decision to increase its optical fiber investment this year. The announcement by the head of government followed a year marked by the global pandemic that highlighted the low level of broadband penetration in the country. According to the Digital Report 2021 by Hootsuite and We Are Social, the Internet penetration rate in Burkina Faso was still 25.7%.

Kisito Traoré stressed that the government seeks to connect all administrative buildings, businesses, and universities to optical fiber by 2030.

Muriel Edjo