Gabon and Cameroon have signed, on 28 November 2019 in Libreville, a memorandum of understanding for the interconnection of their fiber-optic broadband telecommunications networks (CAB 4 and CAB 1 respectively)
The document was targeted for Gabon by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Rigobert Ikambouayat Ndeka, and for Cameroon, by Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng. All this in the presence of the representatives of the donors of this project (World Bank, African Development Bank and International Telecommunication Union).
The purpose of this memorandum of understanding is to set the general and legal framework for cooperation in the interconnection of electronic communications networks between the two countries and to set up a committee responsible for the implementation of and the follow-up to the said memorandum and subsequent agreements.
It also indicates that it represents the materialization of the reinforcement of subregional cooperation and the pooling of the digital infrastructures of the two countries.
With this interconnection, telecommunications exchanges between the two countries will now be direct and no longer via international submarine cables. This will induce a decrease in connectivity costs.
This interconnection is made possible thanks to the deployment in Gabon of a 411 km long optical fiber network (Booue-Bitam-Eboro / Meyo-Kye) with the support of the World Bank. In addition to the interconnection with CAB1 (Cameroon, RCA and Chad) by Eboro, this ridge will also allow interconnection with Equatorial Guinea by Meyo-Kie in the far north of Gabon on the border with Cameroon.