Maputo, Mozambique – The U.S. Trade and Development Agency today launched the Access Africa initiative, a partnership with U.S. industry to advance the development of high-quality information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and services across Sub-Saharan Africa.  

USTDA’s Acting Director Thomas Hardy made the announcement at the Corporate Council on Africa’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit 2019. The event included African stakeholders, U.S. private sector partners and U.S. government representatives.

“Through Access Africa, USTDA is responding to the rising demand by Africans for increased connectivity and IT infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa,” Hardy said. “Access Africa will also ensure USTDA establishes greater connections between U.S. industry and stakeholders in Africa’s ICT sector through the deployment of quality U.S. ICT solutions across the continent.”

Working with the public and private sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, Access Africa brings together stakeholders and designs programming to advance inclusive, secure and sustainable connectivity. Access Africa also supports Prosper Africa, a whole-of-government economic initiative to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa.

USTDA also announced a call for initial ICT proposals for funding from project sponsors in Sub-Saharan Africa or U.S. companies working with African project sponsors. In addition, USTDA will host a series of three reverse trade missions to connect public and private decision-makers from Sub-Saharan Africa to U.S. ICT technology and service providers to support the region’s infrastructure development goals.

USTDA also awarded a grant today to SEACOM, Ltd., a pan-African service provider, for a feasibility study that will evaluate the enterprise market for fiber telecommunications services in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.