Burkina Faso soon crisscrossed by 800 km of urban optical fiber and 900 surveillance cameras
July 12th 2021
The government of Burkina Faso has decided to use information and communication technologies to better protect populations. As crime grows in the country, China has joined forces to address it most effectively.
The “SMART Burkina” project – intended to interconnect the cities of Burkina Faso through a network of 800 km of optical fiber and to guarantee the safety of the citizens of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso thanks to 900 urban surveillance cameras – was launched Thursday July 8 by Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré. Worth 52 billion FCFA (94 million USD), including nearly 47 billion FCFA in the form of a loan from Eximbank of China and nearly 102 million FCFA of Burkina Faso’s own contribution, the project will help fight more effectively against organized crime and insecurity in the country.
Maxime Koné, the Minister in charge of Internal Security, explained that the SMART Burkina project ” is a technical and operational tool for coordination and command, especially for the benefit of the internal security forces “. It is ” a professional video protection and radiocommunication system associating the image with the voice, in order to give more luck and success to security operations “, he underlined, specifying that he is the one of the flagship actions of the government to fight ” effectively against ever-increasing crime ” in Burkina Faso.
In its Burkina Faso 2020 Crime & Safety Report, the American Advisory Council on Overseas Security (OSAC) estimates that Ouagadougou experienced an increase in the number of armed robberies in 2019. Street crime (especially theft) pick-pocketing, bag snatching and backpack theft) is rampant in large cities. Cell phones, jewelry, laptops, cash and other valuables are frequent targets of thieves.
According to Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré, the technologies installed by Burkina Faso are not intended to ” spy on the population, but rather to strengthen the skills of our security and defense forces “. Chinese companies Huawei and CITCC (China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation) are responsible for the implementation of the project.
Back