On 22nd June, 2015, during the first Huawei Clouds Conference in Dar es Salaam, the Minister of Communications, Science, and Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa announced the agreement between the Tanzanian Government and Huawei, to bring high speed broadband internet to Tanzania.
Huawei, a leading Chinese Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment and solutions provider, will be in charge of the support and development of the first national Internet Data Center (IDC) in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.
The IDT is meant to benefit not only Tanzania but also the East Africa region.
The initiative is part of the Tanzania’s 2025 ICT development plan that was previously discussed during a meeting where Huawei welcomed Mr. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, at its headquarters in Shenzhen, China.
Huawei will continue to work closely with the government, operators, and local universities to train ICT engineers and build talent within the local community, especially with the aim of supporting the planned reformation of Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL).
The data center will have a cost of USD 93.7 million and its construction will start in July 2015.
It will bring high speed broadband connectivity by optic fiber and won’t rely on electric power but rather on solar power and batteries, was detailed by Prof. Makame Mbarawa during the conference.
According to oAfrica, Tanzania currently ranks 21st among the 25th fastest African countries for download/upload internet speed, with average speed of 0.88Mbps and 0.43Mbps respectively.
However Tanzania remains among the slowest in a global ranking at 158th and 154th positions for download and upload speeds respectively.
