The government of Uganda has been awarded USD200 million financing by the World Bank to carry out a series of digital inclusion schemes. The new Uganda Digital Acceleration Project-GovNet (UDAP-GovNet) will support the extension of 1,000km of national fibre backbone infrastructure, an additional 500km of fibre-optic network links between towns, mobile broadband connections for 900 government administrative units and service centres in underserved areas, and 828 Wi-Fi hotspots in select locations to support access to online services among rural and underserved communities.

The funding will include USD140 million of financing from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) plus a grant of USD60 million.

Tony Thompson, World Bank Country Manager for Uganda, commented: ‘Transforming Uganda’s digital infrastructure is an urgent necessity for post-COVID-19 recovery. We look forward to the time when all citizens can access high quality and low-cost internet, public services online, a digital economy driving growth, innovation and job creation.’

Source: Commsupdate