Silicon Mountain in Buea, a nickname given to Cameroon’s fast-growing tech ecosystem on the southwest of the country, has received endorsement from the government for high-speed internet connection.
Minette Libom Li Likeng, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, announced the hardware donation to each start-up during Cameroon ICT Innovation Week’s third edition, which took place between 14-18 March 2022.
Above the hardware donated to each small entity, the Minister also granted complimentary access to Fibre-to-the-Office connection which will be for a duration of one year. The internet will give small businesses access to 6 Mbps internet connectivity, digital TV, unlimited internet, and the ability to make calls.
Furthermore, every month, the small business will get 135 gigabits of high-speed LTE broadband internet through the state-run telecom company Camtel.
Thirty-five start-ups across four hubs in Silicon Mountain have been identified to receive these benefits.
On speaking on behalf of the Silicon Mountain community, founder of Njorku.com, Mambe Churchill Nanje, a Techpreneur in that area, said, “The support from government will be of great assistance in solving the community’s greatest challenge, which is access to reliable internet connectivity.”
In sharing his optimism, Nanje noted that the donation would allow the start-up to raise enough financial resources to be self-sustainable by the time the offer ends after a year. In addition, the long term benefit of the offering is that the government will be able to receive income through tax once the companies are self-sufficient.
