With 9.5 million Euros from the African Development Bank, the island nation of Comoros plans to build a new data centre, operationalise the current secondary data centre, and develop an incubator.

The country aims to hire a private company to run, market, maintain, and expand the data centres as part of a public-private partnership to use private expertise and source extra funding over time to save public spending.

The AfDB approved 9.51 million euros in financing for the Comoros to promote the country's economic digitisation, including the data centre project.

The bank stated that the project will improve the governance, quality, affordability, and accessibility of important public services provided to citizens.

The AfDB said that the project will also include the construction of a comprehensive digital administration platform, e-services, and a digital public payment system, as well as an interoperability and data exchange platform.

The Incubator aims to improve conditions for digital innovation and entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, AfDB stated that digitisation is based on the availability of data, which must be adequately protected.

To this end, the initiative supports the establishment and operation of a National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data and Access to Information.

The project will also strengthen local digital training offered through funding to the University of Comoros, the bank said.

Finally, the bank said the project's completion should result in the establishment of a comprehensive and cohesive range of digital services capable of addressing the population's needs, allowing the Comoros to compete and operate even more effectively in the digital world.