Paul Kaba Thiéba, Prime Minister of the Republic of Burkina Faso, has inaugurated the country's 307km-long fibre optic project that facilitates connection with Ghana.

The CFAF 11.5 billion (approximately US$20.6 million) project, under the auspices of the regional communication infrastructure project of West Africa (PRICAO-BF), was financed through the World Bank.

Undertaken by Huawei, via Sofrecom, the project includes a ramp at Manga-Bagrépole; virtual landing point and the Ouagadougou Internet Exchange Point (IXP). Thiéba said

"The inauguration of these electronic communication infrastructures reflects the qualitative leap made by the country in ICT [and] this will concretely translate into increased geographic coverage of very high speed and reduced costs of communication services."

Burkina Faso and Ghana are also linked by the US$38 million-Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure Project which is expected to be fully completed in 2020 with funding provided by the government of Denmark.

Alcatel-Lucent is in charge of the design and implementation of the project which includes a datacentre and a managed service component to ensure the security of data on the entire network.

Spanning 800km, the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure Project links Ghana's north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor. It expands communication links between Ghana's Coastline and Northern Boundary to Burkina Faso.

Daniel Jaeger, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa, said the project serves as an important platform for sustainable growth and development.