(Ecofin Agency) - Optical fiber Internet provider Liquid Telecom officially launched its broadband service in Juba, South Sudan, on February 20. The announcement was made by Strive Masiyiwa, CEO of Econet Global, the parent company of Liquid Telecom.

This marks the end of work which started since 1^st July 2019 on a deal signed with the South Sudanese government. Phase 1 of the project involved the deployment of 300 km of infrastructure from the Ugandan border to Juba and the construction of several metropolitan loops. The optical fiber network will be extended to other cities in coming phases to bring high-speed Internet access to the country's 13 million inhabitants.

Liquid Telecom has plans to connect South Sudan to its East African optical fiber network, which already includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Nearly 300 million people are expected to benefit from this project which will stimulate cross-border investment and trade between countries.