Kenya begins construction of a high-speed fiber optic cable at Nadapal

The government of Kenya has begun the construction of a 630-kilometer high-speed fiber optic cable at Nadapal, a community in the Rift valley province on the border with the neighboring state of South Sudan. The project was launched in a ceremony presided over by Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok.

The over US$27M government of Kenya and the World Bank-funded project is expected to ease communication in remote areas as well as open up the northern frontier region. It will also significantly lower internet costs in towns such as Eldoret, Kitale, Lodwar, Kakuma, Lokichar, and Lokichogio according to the Turkana county boss.

The project was launched simultaneously with the commissioning of the recently rehabilitated Eldoret to Nakodok fiber optic cable.

The Eldoret to Nakodok fiber optic cable

This was commissioned by the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology, through the ICT Authority led by its Chief Executive Officer, Katherine Getao. During the commissioning ceremony, Dr. Gateo said that the agency had completed the rehabilitation of the fiber optic cable from Eldoret town and extended a wireless solution to the Nadapal border post.

With speeds of up to 100 gigabytes per second (GB/s), internet connectivity will be used by the towns and facilities along the fiber cable corridor. This includes hospitals, government offices, schools, and telecommunication operators in Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Turkana, and West Pokot as well as the entire Northern Rift.

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This project which is a part of the US$500M South Sudan-Eastern Africa Regional Transport, Trade, and Development Facilitation Programme (EARTTDFP) project that aims to connect Kenya and South Sudan has increased internet connectivity to the local communities and enabled high-speed internet access to key government institutions, schools and provided numerous employment opportunities to the youth, especially during the construction phase.

Information highway from Kenya to South Sudan

As part of the EARTTDFP, the World Bank will also finance the construction of a 338km road from Lokichar to the border with South Sudan and the construction of Kainuk Bridge, which is at the border of Turkana and West Pokot counties.

These developments according to ICT Authority Chairman Fredrick Owino would see a huge information highway from the heart of Kenya to the border with South Sudan.