Togo looking to raise EUR300m to deploy fibre infrastructure on its power grid
March 31st 2022
Togo’s Minister of the Digital Economy and Digital Transformation, Cina Lawson, has said that the African nation plans to fiberise its entire network of electricity power lines, now that it is connected to Google’s Equiano submarine cable – which is expected to be ready for service (RFS) in Q4 2022. Business media journal Quartz quotes the minister as saying: ‘Our cost-effective strategy is to deploy fibre infrastructure on power lines. One of the costs of deploying fibre is digging the ground and burying the cable deep. Instead of doing that, we will deploy the cables on poles that host electric lines. Imagine when you tell a resident that you will give them high speed internet with their electricity at affordable prices.’ However, the government will reportedly need at least EUR300 million (USD334 million) to make that a reality, with Lawson saying that the authorities are talking with lenders to raise the funding for the project.
‘Togo has approximately 1.2 million households. If we deploy our plan, at least 500,000 households and 50,000 enterprises will be connected to fibre-optic networks. So I am talking about one vision that will transform all of Togo,’ Lawson was cited as saying. However, the government wants to be able to hold the reins on the development of its last mile infrastructure, adding ‘we want to de-risk the project as the government by contributing financing, to make sure price points are low. If it’s entirely led by the private sector, they will need a return on investment which may lead to high prices.’
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