The World Bank has approved a USD400 million credit for the Digital and Energy Connectivity for Inclusion in Madagascar Project (DECIM) that will contribute to connecting an additional 3.4 million people to the internet and doubling energy access in the country. According to the World Bank, the project will focus on deploying infrastructure and mobilising private capital to improve and expand access to energy and digital services in underserved areas, leveraging synergies in joint planning and rollout to reduce deployment costs. At least ten million people including two million households and more than 150 villages will gain access to electricity, while some 2,000 health centres and schools will be connected to renewable energy and digital services.

‘Access to energy and telecommunications are top priorities for our government. This project is fully aligned with our vision for the development of Madagascar. It will allow a significant increase in our access to energy and digital services,’ said Andry Rajoelina, President of Madagascar.

Access to infrastructure in Madagascar, including electricity and digital, is among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the world, the World Bank highlighted. An estimated 33.7% of the population has access to electricity – compared to an average of 48.4% for Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 – and over 18 million people currently lack electricity access, placing Madagascar 13th in the list of countries with the largest unelectrified population worldwide. Despite some progress in recent years, Madagascar also ranks relatively low in terms of connectivity and access to broadband services. According to the most recent figures issued by the Agency for Regulation of Technology and Communication (Autorite de Regulation des Technologies de Communications, ARTEC), household penetration of fixed broadband and mobile services stood at just 0.4% and 54.7%, respectively, at end-2021.

In an effort to reduce the digital divide, the country’s telecom operators have been stepping up their infrastructure investment to meet growing demand for services. Earlier this year, Orange signed separate Network-as-a-Service (NAAS) agreements with NuRAN Wireless and Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) for the deployment of a total of 1,000 towers in rural areas of the country. Rival Telma, meanwhile, has connected the country to two submarine cable systems in the past two years.

Source: Commsupdate