Ivory Coast rural telecoms gets US$16 million boost

The Authority was established in 1998 but has never regulated on any significant levels due to the country's civil war.

In order for the authority to carry out its mandate, a significant injection of funds by the state and the telecommunications sector will be needed.

The National Telecommunications Funds (NFT) was subsequently created to raise funds on behalf of the authority and since its formation the fund has held various fund raising meetings in the capital Abidjan to highlight the financial needs of the authority.

The NFT has so far raised more than US$16 million (8 billion FCFA) to finance the activities of the telecommunications networks in the country's rural areas.

Meanwhile, the president of the board of management of NFT, Ahoutou Koffi, explained that the fund is now operational through the initiative of Côte d'Ivoire's Economy and Finances minister and his counterparts in the ICT sector in the country.

"They knew to give the impulse necessary in April 2006 to set up the bases of the practical funds," said Ahoutou Koffi.

Ahoutou mentioned that the NFT is ready to contribute to the development of the telecommunications sector in Côte d'Ivoire. They must therefore work to determinate administrative rules to guarantee the traceability and the correct use of income royalties and so on. This aspect will be taken care of by high level experts selected among Ivorian experts of this sector.

In the mean time, Côte d'Ivoire's ICT Minister, Ahmed Bakayoko has also urged the fund not to forget the country's schools who are in need of telecommunications infrastructure as well.

He said that the fund must also attempt to equip local schools with multimedia rooms, ICT infrastructure in hospitals and enhance the rollout of telecommunications in the country's rural areas.

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