The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved financing of 9.51 million euros to the Comoros for implementation of the Project to Support the Digitization of the Comorian Economy. With a total cost of 22.53 million euros, the Bank’s financing consists of 4.02 million euros provided by the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional loan agency, and a further 5.49 million euros provided by the Bank’s Transition Support Facility.

The project will improve the governance, quality, affordability and accessibility of relevant public services offered to users. It will set up a digital administration through the construction and operationalization of a new data centre and the existing secondary data centre, and an incubator. The intention is to recruit a private Operator for the operation, marketing, maintenance and expansion of the data centres as part of a PPP to mobilize private expertise and additional financing over time to relieve public expenditures.

The project also includes the establishment of a comprehensive digital administration platform, e-services development, and a digital public payment system, interoperability and data exchange platform. The Incubator enhances conditions for digital innovation and entrepreneurship.

Of course, the digitization is built on the availability of data, and it is critical that this data is properly protected. To this end, the project provides funds to establish and operationalize a National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data and Access to Information. The project will improve local digital training offered through financing to the University of Comoros.

Completion of the project should ensure the emergence of a comprehensive and coherent range of digital services capable of meeting the needs of the population and leave the Comoros even better able to compete and operate in the digital world.