In 2021, Gabon started a three-year acceleration plan for economic transformation. This comprises several priority projects including the construction of a national datacenter to store all administrative data.

Last Thursday, June 29, Gabon's Minister of Digital Economy, Jean Pierre Doukaga Kassa, and the CEO of the Indian company Shapoorji-Pallonji, Ransit Gajave, signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a national data center in Gabon.

The Ministry of Digital Economy said on social media that the project is a high-priority one. Thus, “he instructed the general manager of the Digital Heritage and Infrastructure Company (SPIN) to sign the memorandum with Shapoorji-Pallonji, which holds a leading position in India for data center construction.”

Before the MoU’s signing, a delegation from the Indian contractor was in Gabon last March. At the time, the Asian firm said it wanted to help the African country design, build, and maintain its digital infrastructures, including data centers.

The national data center is extremely important for the Gabonese government and that is why the minister of digital economy quickly sealed the deal with  Shapoorji-Pallonji. The official was well aware of the firm’s experience and achievements in Africa, including Egypt, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Building the infrastructure, according to Doukaga Kassa, aligns with Gabonese authorities' ambition to make Gabon a digital hub in the Central African sub-region.

Samira Njoya