drc news
Paratus Expands to DRC, Connects 620KM Fibre Optic Line
Laying fibre. Image sourced from IFC.org. Telecommunications firm Paratus Group has announced its expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This coincides with the news that Paratus has won, together with DRC based Global Broadband Solution (GBS), a government tender to activate a 620-kilometre fibre-optic network link between Muanda, on the West Coast, to DRC capital city, Kinshasa. Paratus and GBS have established FAST Congo to deliver, operate and maintain the network link in an exclusive 15-year license contract. Paratus Seeks to Connect Africa By adding DRC to its terrestrial network, Paratus Group claims it can now boast a unique and contiguous footprint in Africa, which includes offices in seven SADC countries, four Data Centers, five satellite teleports with 6,000 cust...
Massive Undersea Mudslide Caused Internet Problems Across Africa
Image sourced from Medium. A recent study conducted by Professor Peter J. Talling and a team from the Departments of Earth Sciences and Geography, from the University of Durham in the UK, co-led by Angola Cables and supported by the Vodafone Group, British Telecom, NERC Environmental and others, has delivered important findings presenting valuable insights for the routing and protection of future subsea cables. In January 2020, the South Atlantic 3/West Africa (SAT-3/Wasc) cable, linking Africa to Portugal and Spain was hit by a breakdown in Gabon, whilst the West Africa Cable System (Wacs) that connects South Africa to the United Kingdom saw an outage off the coast of the DRC Congo. In March, the WACS cable experienced a further break affecting international bandwidth. Whilst many I...
The DRC’s COVID-19 Response is Based on Approaches Tackling the Ebola Outbreak
Sourced from ScienceMag. The Ebola outbreak in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared over today, almost two years since the first case was confirmed. The DRC Ministry of Health made the announcement after no new cases were reported 42 days since the last patient tested negative for the virus. The outbreak started in August 2018. There were 3470 cases, 2287 lives lost and 1171 survivors, making it the second-deadliest after the one in West Africa that lasted from 2014 to 2016. In a context of insecurity, the efforts to halt the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC were particularly challenging. Emergency teams from the World Health Organization (WHO), partner organizations, the DRC Ministry of Health and communities made huge efforts to end the outbreak. “During the...
Unique Health Platform Could Benefit 800 Million Mobile Subscribers in Africa
Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. “With this platform, we have the possibility of reaching between 600 million and 800 million mobile subscribers in Africa,” says Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), during the virtual launch of the Africa Communication and Information Platform for Health and Economic Action (ACIP) on 23 June 2020. ACIP is a mobile-based tool for two-way information and communication between citizens and governments. It furnishes national and regional COVID task forces with user-generated survey data and actionable health and economic insights that will enable authorities to better analyze pandemic-related problems and implement appropriate responses. Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC says the platform offers a “unique opp...
