The link will start in Djibouti, the coastal state where 16 subsea cables will terminate by 2025, run through Ethiopia, and connect with Juba (pictured, via Wikipedia), the capital of South Sudan.
The deal was signed by South Sudanese Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth and senior officials from Djibouti.
The South Sudanese ministry of information, communication technology and postal services, as reported by the Ecofin news agency, said the memorandum of understanding will be followed by the formation of a technical team from the two countries to carry out the project which is of strategic importance for South Sudan.
The country, which became independent from Sudan in 2011, has long been trying to improve its digital connectivity. In 2013 the country’s government said it was deciding whether to connect with subsea cables in Djibouti or in Mombasa, on the coast of Kenya.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies has a link from Juba into Nimule on the Ugandan border, where it connects with the rest of Liquid’s network. The distance from Juba to Djibouti is 1,500km.
South Sudan has also benefited from a connection with Kenya, with 630km of fibre deployed from October 2020 on the border between the two countries with funding from the World Bank and the Kenyan government.
