USTDA Supports Rural Internet Access in Southern Africa
September 9, 2021
Press Release
Image of children using the internet on a tablet. USTDA is funding a feasibility study to expand affordable internet access across rural Southern Africa.

Arlington, VA – The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a grant to South African internet service provider Jenny Internet (Pty) Ltd for a feasibility study to expand affordable internet across rural Southern Africa. Countries benefitting from USTDA’s assistance include Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Mozambique and South Africa. Jenny Internet selected California-based Connectivity Capital LLC to conduct the study.

“USTDA has extraordinary flexibility to support ambitious, region-wide projects such as this. Through our Access Africa initiative, USTDA is working with partners such as Jenny Internet to promote internet access in communities all across Africa,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Acting Director. “U.S. companies offer high-quality solutions that will allow our partner to expand its digital infrastructure in a manner this is more inclusive, secure and sustainable.”

USTDA’s feasibility study will assess the technical and economic viability of expanding affordable internet connections in Southern Africa utilizing wireless technologies to lower the cost of international data transmission. The study will also assess the viability of expanding Jenny Internet’s last-mile connectivity infrastructure across Southern Africa.

“This study will help prove the technology options for getting large amounts of bandwidth to hard-to-reach areas where fiber is cost-prohibitive and slow to deploy. We are excited to work with USTDA on this opportunity to test and deploy technology to help reach our vision of unlimited data access for every African home,” said Werner Stucky, Managing Director of Jenny Internet.

This project supports Access Africa, USTDA’s initiative to support the development of inclusive, secure, and sustainable ICT infrastructure across Africa, and the U.S. government’s Prosper Africa initiative to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa.

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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies.  USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.

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