​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Background

Co-funded by the European Union, Afri caConnect2 follows the successful completion of the AfricaConnect project which helped establish a regional gateway for collaborative research and education (R&E) in Southern and Eastern Africa. It also builds on the EUMEDCONNECT project, which has provided a research and education network for Northern Africa and the Middle East since 2004.

A continuing success story​

The UbuntuNet network is the regional research and education internet network in Eastern and Southern Africa. Through the procurement and deployment of high-speed in​ternet connections across the region, between 2011 and 2014, the AfricaConnect project significantly contributed to the UbuntuNet network. 

Through its connections to the GÉANT network,​ the UbuntuNet network enables thousands of researchers and students across the region to exchange data and to collaborate more efficiently with their European and global counterparts in international research and education projects.

Implementing the UbuntuNet network meant establishing points of presence (PoPs) in major cities across the region and interconnecting them with broadband cross-border links. Historically, all intra-regional traffic had to travel via routers in London and Amsterdam – incurring delays and additional costs. Scientists, researchers and students in sub-Saharan Africa are now connected directly, able to share data quickly and to collaborate more efficiently with each other and with peers in the rest of the world. ​​

Joining forces across Africa

AfricaConnect2 also builds on the achievements of the EUMEDCONNECT project. Co-funded by the EC, EUMEDCONNECT – now in its third phase – has provided a high-capacity dedicated internet network for the research and education communities across the southern and eastern Mediterranean region since 2004. The North African project partners (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) are now joining the pan-African programme to work towards the successful delivery of AfricaConnect2 along with the other African regions.
 

EU supports connectivity projects i​n Africa​ ​The European Commission has successfully supported the creation and consolidation of regional research and education networks and their interconnection to the pan-European GÉANT network in different parts of the world, such as in Latin America, the Mediterranean, Asia, Central Asia, the Caribbean and, most recently, in ​the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood.  AfricaConnect, and now AfricaConnect2, reflect the EC's objective to firmly place the African continent onto the global connectivity map for research and education.​​​​​​