COVID19 SOMALIA TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION

The project entails the connection of Somalia to the largest submarine cable system in Africa, which will significantly enhance the resilience, quality and capacity of the country's international connectivity. The project also includes the deployment of the first segment of a new national fibre optic backbone to interconnect the capital city with regional hubs, enabling them to access the country's new high quality connection to the internet.

The project seeks to significantly improve Somalia's digital infrastructure by diversifying the country's international connectivity and enabling the expansion of broadband networks into previously underserved areas. The investments supported by the EIB financing will lead to an accelerated market uptake of broadband services, driven by an increased affordability among the population. The project entails various socio-economic benefits derived from Somalia's digital transformation, COVID-19 pandemic recovery and enhanced cross-sectoral economic resilience.

If it were located within the EU, the project would not require a mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA), as it does not fall under Annex I or II of the EIA Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU. Typically, the rollout of telecommunication networks have limited environmental and social negative effects, apart from short duration disturbances during network deployment, whenever civil works are required, which can be mitigated by appropriate measures. Full environmental and social details will be assessed during appraisal, with particular focus on the submarine cable and fibre optics backbone, which are the project components that will require relevant construction works, and environmental and social studies may be required by the Bank.

The Bank will require the Promoter to ensure that implementation of the project will be done in accordance with the Bank's Guide to Procurement.