EAC to support Liquid Telecom Group initiative

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The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera today received Mr Sam Nkusi, Group Executive of Liquid Telecom, the leading independent data, voice and IP provider in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. The Secretary General, who was accompanied by Eng. Robert Achieng, EAC Senior Engineer in charge of Planning and Communications, warmly welcomed the Liquid Telecom Group Executive to the EAC Headquarters.

Mr Nkusi briefed Amb. Sezibera on the operations of Liquid Telecom and said the company was embarking on a project to build a new submarine cable infrastructure that will provide a cost-effective and reliable link for landlocked, southern, central and east African countries to the Internet and to the world.

“Leveraging Liquid Telecom's 20,000km-long fibre optic terrestrial network, this pan-African private sector project will support fast growing needs for Internet connectivity and help Africa’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector leapfrog towards achieving its Sustainable Development Goals” noted the Liquid Telecom CEO.

Mr. Nkusi reiterated that the cable, running along the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea, will take a less congested route to Europe, and will interconnect with all existing networks and with other international submarine cables. According to Liquid Telecom, this will also address the need for mobile operators to increase internet speed delivered over their mobile broadband networks.

He said the project was a major step towards fulfilling EAC’s mission to widen and deepen Economic, Political, Social and Cultural integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa.

The Secretary General hailed the private sector-led initiative and affirmed the Secretariat and the Community’s support to the project and urged Partner States to support the project. He noted that the biggest support EAC could provide towards the overall implementation of the project would be to provide a Cross-Border Inter-Connectivity Regulatory Framework in order to guide and facilitate inter-connections across borders within the EAC, and could possibly be shared with other regional economic blocks in Africa.

Spain accredits Envoy to EAC bloc

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The government of Spain has accredited its Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Felix Costales Artieda, to also serve as Ambassador to the East African Community. His  Excellency Felix Costales Artieda today presented accreditation letter to the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera.              

Amb. Felix Artieda informed the Secretary General that his government attaches great importance to regional economic groupings such as the EAC and congratulated the EAC Secretary General for the wonderful regional initiative. “Count on Spain’s support because the goals of the Community are excellent for the prosperity of the people in the region”, asserted the Spain Envoy, adding that “regional integration initiatives take time but you need to continue so as to build a strong and powerful bloc”.

While receiving the Spain Envoy, the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera hailed the existing cordial relations between the EAC and Spain. The Secretary General welcomed the support from the Spainish Government geared towards enabling the Community to achieve its ambitious agenda.

Dr Sezibera briefed him  on the progress being registered by the Community so far that include implementation of Protocols on the Customs Union, Common Market and  East African Monetary Union.

Meanwhile, earlier today, the EAC Secretary General met the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, H.E Mr Lv Youqing for bilateral discussion. The two parties deliberated on a number of areas that offer the potential for collaboration between EAC and China including the cooperation in aviation and trade sectors.

The EAC Secretary General  appreciated the Chinese for their role in infrastructure development in the EAC Partner States and specifically for their support to the Secretariat.

On his part, the Chinese Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary to Tanzania, commended the Secretariat for the role it is playing in promoting regional cooperation and integration.