Read testimonials from across the AfricaConnect community.
Lloyd Ssentongo NIH, Uganda
“AC3 and RENU will provide reliable Internet access for the 2nd African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, which will be set up in Kampala.”
Prof. Farida Fassi Mohammed V University, Morocco
“AC3 allows ATLAS scientists in Morocco to access LHC data in a smart way. We can continue to be at the forefront of the stimulating work of investigating the origins of the universe.”
Temilade Ruth Adelakun University of Ibadan, Nigeria
“In a Hackfest hundreds of women applied skills from an online coding course to build weather data logging stations. May AC3 empower even more women in STEM.”
Boubakar Barry – CEO, WACREN
“The AfricaConnect2 project comes at a time when the demand for adequate bandwidth and network services from researchers, lecturers and students at West and Central African higher education and research institutions is extremely high.
There is no doubt that the project will adequately satisfy that demand through the provision of advanced network infrastructure and services, thus creating an enabling environment for quality teaching, learning and research. This will significantly transform the R&E landscape in West and Central Africa.”
Read an interview (in French) Boubakar Barry gave in August 2017 to News Tank Higher Ed and Research on the importance of Africaconnect2.
Read an interview with Boubakar Barry in issue 28 of CONNECT magazine.
Yousef Torman – Managing Director, ASREN
“First I would like to thank the EUMEDCONNECT project which was instrumental in developing e-infrastructures in the North African countries between 2004 and 2016.
I look forward to further e-developments for R&E across Africa and trust AfricaConnect2 will be able to enforce these positive changes. ASREN is committed to working closely with GEANT, WACREN and the Ubuntunet Alliance and will also participate in ICT-related projects supported by EC such as MAGIC, TANDEM and SciGAIA.”
Françoise Moreau – Head of Unit at the EC Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation, DG DEVCO (now DG INTPA)
“Science, technology and innovation figure high on the African and European agenda as means to attain socio-economic development objectives. That is the reason why under the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, both continents have decided to deepen their cooperation to promote knowledge and skills-based societies and economies.
The EU therefore welcomes the start of AfricaConnect2, which will build upon the successes of AfricaConnect in improving scientific knowledge and will further reinforce cooperation between research communities of the two continents, for the benefits of all.”
Prof. Gbenga Jegede – Department of Physics & Engineering Physics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
“In my area of research I need access to climate data as well as regional climate models (RCMs) to be able to study different climate scenarios and train students to be able to do so. The AfricaConnect2 project opens up new vista supporting collaborative research across Africa and beyond through timely access to scientific data using high-speed Internet connectivity provided by NRENs.
I am very excited to be part of the cooperative whereby acquired data is made available to the global scientific community and for training of postgraduate students in Africa.”
Bonny Khunga – former CEO, ZAMREN
“I believe AfricaConnect2 will open up collaboration and sharing of resources among researchers, accelerate research for social and economic development and support data-driven science across the continent.
This is evidenced by the demand for higher broadband capacities within the Ubuntunet Alliance members, especially in Zambia where the uptake on broadband has soared by more than twenty fold among R&E institutions as a direct result of the AfricaConnect project.”
Isaac Kasana – former CEO, RENU
“AfricaConnect2 is welcome progress from the foundation laid by AfricaConnect. In addition to improving connectivity resilience, continental coverage and increase of international capacity, AfricaConnect2 will also strengthen pan-African R&E collaboration.
I look forward to greater and more affordable collaboration across Africa and increased sharing of R&E resources, including human, infrastructure and knowledge.’’
Meoli Kashorda – CEO, KENET
Meoli Kashorda is a champion of African R&E networking. He became CEO of the Kenyan NREN, KENET, in 2008 and served as a member of the Board of the UbuntuNet Alliance from 2008 – 2016.
Read an interview with Meoli in issue 29 of CONNECT magazine
