The sea has always been a driver of change in Sierra Leone, the small but pivotal West African country where I have been investing for three decades.
The name itself comes from the navigators, the pioneer Portuguese sailors who 500 years ago saw a scheme to hunt a predator on the mountainous peninsula looming over the Atlantic: Sierra Leone, Mt. Leon.
Therefore, there is a strong historical consistency in the role the sea plays in the modern transformation of the country, the arrival of a high-speed connection via fiber providing data transmission speeds comparable to almost anywhere in the world, at a price that begins to be an affordable luxury in a developing region like West Africa.
It comes from the sea and, to be more precise, it descends from a single cable to the seabed, no thicker than my wrist, of ultra-fast optical fibers capable of transmitting data at rates of up to terabytes (1,000 gigabits) per second. It is part of ACE (Coast of Africa to Europe), a high-speed submarine cable that runs 17,000 kilometers from France to South Africa down the continent’s western coast.
Built at a cost of US$700 million, ACE is one of several global internet links that have the potential to change Africa. Safely sunk at a depth of about 6000 meters, the naval guidance was chosen especially due to its stability and low risk of failure. It has spurs, and lateral cables that branch off to many African coastal countries from Mauritania to Gabon, and also reach landlocked countries such as Niger and Mali through their own land links. Started eight years ago, ACE will include 24 countries in its network when complete.
Furthermore, the cable uses the latest multiplexing technology which means it can bundle multiple data packets into a single signal, greatly increasing transmission rates. With transmission nodes upgrades, speeds of 20 Tbps can be achieved.
So, what does all this have to do with Sierra Leone, a country that, unfortunately, many outsiders still associate with a legacy of war and poverty?
The Sierra Leonean government was one of ACE’s first clients, negotiating a deal that catalyzed the country nearly ten years ago. What she did next showed the foresight and vision of a government eager to liberate her country from its past.
The government decided to transfer the operation of the submarine cable station to the private sector. Actually he said, we brought the hoses here but to get the actual water to the right people we need special help.
This is where my company, ZoodLabs and, finally, MetroCable, came in, and won the privatization contract to operate the submarine cable landing site and to ensure the extraordinary potential it offered. This included multi-million dollar investments: the creation of an extensive, carefully designed network of cables, nodes, transmission boxes, and other infrastructure. And it took time: more than two years to obtain the materials and build the network, and many obstacles had to be dealt with.
Power is not completely reliable in Freetown and while improving at a neck pace we still have to work out how to deal with that In the meantime, losing internet connectivity due to blackouts would undermine customer confidence, literally one click Transformation.
We have put together a consortium ready to build a 1.2 MW solar power plant within the confines of the landing site, with battery backup and capacitors capable of ensuring uninterrupted service. It makes our network the only fully green network in West Africa, saving hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, and despite these challenges, the result is now ready, a 750 km network of fiber optic cables covering the entire capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Which has a population of just over two million, a quarter of the country’s population. There is now no business, home or residence more than 200 square meters that provides high-speed, stable and affordable Internet.
The “last few metres”, always the most complex network, is the realm of many ISPs already operating in Freetown, and we’re working with them now to deliver deals that make the last link affordable and achievable.
They have worked since the internet age first arrived in Sierra Leone using data transmitted using microwaves and point-to-multipoint radios. They are notorious for being power-hungry, and suffer from interference during adverse weather conditions. The quantum leap that fiber delivers—better speed, greater reliability, and greater bandwidth—makes this next step irresistibly attractive. As my Sierra Leonean friends said in the local Krio that sailors brought here centuries ago ‘Fiber don kam’ or ‘Fiber has come’, I still defy my colleagues and peers since my days in the States.
Their thinking is always the same: How can you invest in a country with a history of poverty like Sierra Leone and a history tarnished by war.
My answer is always the same: I’m not interested in history, I’m interested in reality. We now have a third, democratically elected civilian government, one that is interested in progress. And they want to do it right but fast. Their distinctive educational program, which is the envy of the rest of the world, is their focus, which is in line with our vision for a better future for Sierra Leone.
When I first invested in food production. Food has been and always will be a staple. What I have come to realize is that in our modern world in the 21st century, data, connectivity and the internet are as essential as food. This is equally true in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where I once lived as Freetown, Sierra Leone.
- Fazali is the founder and CEO of ZoodLabs.com And the metro companies in Sierra Leone www.chof360.com
