Pan-African e-Network project

Pan African e-Network project is an information and communications technology (ICT) project between India and the African Union that seeks to connect the 53 member states of the Union through a satellite and fibre-optic network to India and to each other to enable access to and sharing of expertise between India and African states in the areas of tele-education, telemedicine, Voice over IP, infotainment, resource mapping, meteorological services, e-governance and e-commerce services. The project is often described as Africa's biggest ever in the ICT sector and is expected to extend ICT infrastructure to rural and previously underserved areas. The project is seen as an example of India furthering its economic and strategic interests in Africa through the use of soft diplomacy and has been acclaimed as an instance of South-South cooperation, helping to overcome the digital divide in Africa.

The idea for the project came from the then President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam who proposed such a network during his address to the Pan-African Parliament in Johannesburg in 2004. The Government of India decided to support the idea and gave the project a funding of $100 million in 2007. The entire cost of the project, amounting to ₹540 crores ($125 million) is to be borne by the Government of India through a grant.

The first phase of the project was launched on 26 February 2009 by the then Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee and included the 11 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Seychelles. The second phase of the project that covers 12 countries- Botswana, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Uganda and Zambia- was launched in 2010 by the Minister of External Affairs, S M Krishna. 47 African countries have joined the project out of which implementation in 34 were completed by 2010 and the remaining were to be completed by the end of 2011.

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