Burkina Faso: MainOne Partners Government, World Bank To Deliver Connectivity Services

By Precious John

West Africa’s premier connectivity and data center solution provider, MainOne has been entrusted by the State of Burkina Faso, backed by the World Bank, to provide bulk connectivity services to a consortium of operators through the PAV-Burkina Cooperative, for the next three (3) years.

Following an international bid to select a preferred operator, MainOne was chosen by the Burkinabe Government (with financial backing from the World Bank) to provide PAV-Burkina with bulk capacity to nodes in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso.

As a landlocked country, Burkina Faso has faced difficulties in accessing world-class connectivity and maintaining ubiquitous broadband internet access due to the lack of infrastructure and the reluctance of major operators to explore operational broadband service delivery models favorable for socio-economic development of the country. To address this challenge, the PRICAO Initiative was created by the Burkina Faso Government, in collaboration with a consortium of Internet Service Providers and Mobile Operators. The purpose of the initiative is to facilitate the creation of virtual landing points as a platform for the extension of broadband network coverage in the country, with a view to improving the quality of connectivity in the region; increase Internet penetration and improve the performance of ICT services.

In order to set up an independent and competitive framework for connectivity services, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Postal Services (MDENP) with the support of the World Bank, created a Cooperative Consortium (SCOOP PAV-BURKINA). The consortium brings together key electronic service stakeholders to deliver a turnkey project that will provide fiber optic transmission infrastructure between Ouagadougou and Dakola, to be delivered in two (2) phases within a 3-year period. This Cooperative has the heavy task of managing and administering the infrastructure judiciously in order to ensure a fair distribution for the various marker players.

The World Bank’s US$20 million plus support of the PRICAO initiative, has enabled the Burkinabe State to set up a 200km fiber optic transmission link from Ouagadougou to Dakola. The first phase of the project commenced in 2018, with the initial stage providing capacity in Ouagadougou over 3 years. Phase 2 of the project will commence in quarter two of year 2020 and will lead to the provision of additional internet capacity in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso within another 3-year period. MainOne, has been selected to deliver Phase 2 and will provide 10 Gbps broadband capacity in Ouagadougou, together with 5Gbps in Bobo Dioulasso. Prior to this, MainOne had been selected in 2019 through a restricted bids process and currently deliver an additional capacity of 2.5Gbps to Ouagadougou to strengthen and secure the capacity initially delivered in Phase I of the project.

Leveraging their extensive partnership with key stakeholders in the region, MainOne has been able to provide its services in Burkina through a diverse terrestrial optical fibers connecting its landing point in Accra to the Burkinabe border town of Paga, where the organization has made significant investments by establishing a physical point of  presence specifically to address the need of the Burkina market. Today, the company offers world-class quality service with 99.95 per cent service availability and has helped BURKINA PAV members achieve up to 50 per cent reduction in the cost per megabit through the bulk broadband connectivity purchase model. 

These projects and their success highlight the progress made by the Government of Burkina Faso and the initiatives of PAV-BURKNA with regards to critical broadband infrastructures and services in their quest to develop the digital economy. This is in accordance with the Government initiative to strengthen infrastructure and improve connectivity in the country. The collaboration with MainOne has shown that significant progress can be achieved through bulk capacity purchasing, effectively maximizing the values of existing fiber assets in the region, complemented by new investments supported by International Development Agencies (IDA). This is improving service reach and reducing prices for consumers by removing cost duplication.

Through the Government’s action, financially supported by the World Bank and technically by the PAV BF cooperative, an increment in broadband internet penetration was recorded from 10 per cent to 19 per cent in 2019. With MainOne’s track record in the region, choosing them for Phase 2 of the project will guarantee a considerable increase in broadband penetration in Burkina Faso and attainment of Government’s digital objectives. 

In a related development, MainOne has reiterated its commitment to explore similar models with other ISPs, Mobile Operators and Governments in other countries across the West Africa region. The company remains committed to supporting the development of the digital ecosystem in West Africa, enabling network operators and the government to access world-class infrastructure and services at competitive prices and delivering bulk capacity that helps to reduce cost per Mbps and ensure an improved connectivity experience.

Meanwhile, consistent with the announcement of its planned MDXi  Ghana Data Center project in September 2019, MainOne has commenced construction activities on the project with official site groundbreaking at the Appolonia City enclave on May 15, 2020.

This follows a thorough and transparent vendors selection process, as well as extensive design review of the planned Tier III Modular facility, leading to the award of engineering and civil build contracts to global OEM and local civil and architectural consultant. Full mobilization and preliminary construction activities has therefore commenced at the site, subsequent to the procurement of relevant construction and environmental permits for the project by MainOne, and with the easing of the government-imposed lock-down restriction in Accra in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic.

As indicated during the announcement last year, the Tier III facility will be constructed on secured 4,047 sqm land area in Appolonia. The facility is planned to be built and operated in accordance with the same operational standards currently maintained at MainOne and West Africa’s largest Tier III certified and only PCI DCSS Data Center, MDXi Lagos, in Nigeria. When completed, it will deliver best in class facility uptime and operational performance at very efficient shared services cost for hosting and operating core IT infrastructure and services.

The project, which was initially scheduled for completion in December 2020 will, now be ready for services at the end of quarter 1 in 2021 due to the delays caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global supply chain and the delivery of key component of the facility.

The 100-rack world-class facility will feature private colocation whitespace, enterprise-grade 24×7 multi-level security and video surveillance, precision cooling, safety and fire suppression systems with multiple redundancies built into the power, cooling and security infrastructure. It will be operated as a carrier neutral facility with connectivity options to the MainOne submarine cable system, extensive global network and partners, as well as a host of other international connectivity cable systems and networks. It will therefore offer open access connectivity options to all MNOs, ISPs, corporate and public sector customers in Ghana as well as access to various Internet Exchanges including the GIX (Ghana), IXPN (Nigeria), LINX (London), DECIX (Frankfurt/Lisbon), and Cote d’Ivoire Internet Exchange (CIVIX), and the West Africa Internet Exchange (WAF-IX), hosted by MainOne in Nigeria.