[kictanet] Kenya's fibre optic cable project queried

Mon Mar 12 10:46:30 EAT 2007

No Walu, please lets be sturdy.

I have being quite on these developments recently because it is time  
for these things (EASSy, TEAMS, KDN etc) to go through a certain  
process that requires us to be less partisan and hope that we can get  
a buildout ASAP though i have come to learn that these things need  
time to be done properly.

Eric here

On 12 Mar 2007, at 13:15, John Walubengo wrote:

> Oh dear!
>
> looks like TEAMs is heading into the hassle and tussles of
> EASSy.  At this rate, I am going to bet my 'money' on KDNs
> Flag....
>
> walu.
>
> --- alice <alice at apc.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: 	[Fibre-for-africa] Kenya's fibre optic cable
>> project queried
>> Date: 	Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:32:18 +0300
>> From: 	Wairagala Wakabi <wakabi at cipesa.org>
>> Reply-To: 	APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop
>> Participants
>> <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
>> To: 	APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop
>> Participants
>> <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
>> References:
>>
> <mailman.0.1172828896.9025.fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
>>
>> <45EBFF90.7090301 at cipesa.org>
>> <45EC0CF1.1050706 at cipesa.org>
>>
>>
>>
>> So Kenya is pushing full throttle with its vision of
>> building a cable to
>> link the country to international fibre. The East African
>> Marine System
>> (TEAMS), promoted by government and expected to draw
>> private financing
>> as well, has been touted as the country’s answer to
>> EASSy’s delays in
>> getting off the ground – and in satisfying Kenya’s
>> misgivings about the
>> EASSy protocol, the role NEPAD has been playing in the
>> initiative and –
>> some say – South Africa’s attempt to dominate the show.
>>
>> But in the rush to get TEAMS off the ground, did the
>> country ignore best
>> practice in procurement? That is the question an article
>> in today’s The
>> EastAfrican newspaper asks. That is the question the
>> country’s Attorney
>> General’s Chambers has been asking.
>>
>> Their queries refer to the manner in which Tyco
>> International Ltd. Was
>> handed the $2.7 m deal to do prelim work on the deal
>> “without
>> competitive bidding”.  One could join the AG’s office in
>> asking
>> questions: Will TEAMS go ahead with this plan anyway, now
>> that some of
>> the entities being expected to fund the construction of
>> TEAMS have moved
>> a step further with EASSy. Here we are referring to the
>> likes of Telekom
>> Kenya. And if EASSy goes ahead, then  Flag Telcom/
>> Reliance Telecom
>> actualise their advanced plan to build their cable (of
>> which Kenya Data
>> Network is a keenly involved party, just as it is in
>> EASSy) how viable
>> will these cables be? For more on cables planned on East
>> coast of
>> Africa, please see www.fibreforafrica.net .
>>
>> Wakabi
>> --
>>
>> Fresh snarl-ups in Kenya-Fujaira fibre optic cable
>> project
>>
>> STAFF WRITER, The EastaAfrican, March 12, 2007
>>
>> Controversy is simmering between the Office of the
>> Attorney General and
>> the Ministry of Information and Communications over the
>> procurement for
>> a multimillion-dollar plan by Kenya to build a
>> fibre-optic cable link
>> from Mombasa to Fujaira in the United Arab Emirates.
>>
>> Known as The East African Marine System (TEAMS), the
>> project is expected
>> to be launched in parallel with the $200 million East
>> African Submarine
>> Cable System (EASSy) — a fibre-optic cable link along the
>> eastern
>> seaboard of Africa, from South Africa to Sudan via a
>> number of landing
>> points including Mombasa.
>>
>> The EastAfrican has learnt that the Office of the
>> Attorney General has
>> raised queries over the manner in which Tyco
>> International Ltd — a
>> transnational that operates in 100 countries — was in
>> January this year
>> awarded a $2.7 million contract by the Information
>> Ministry to conduct a
>> marine survey without competitive bidding.
>>
>> The ministry had in January sought and was granted an
>> exemption from the
>> Directorate of Public Procurement to procure the contract
>> for a marine
>> survey through single-sourcing.
>>
>> However, the Office of the Attorney General has — in a
>> letter signed by
>> Solicitor-General Wanjuki Muchemi — argued that the
>> application to the
>> directorate was not done according to procedure and
>> demanded minutes of
>> the ministry’s technical evaluation committee that
>> decided that the
>> project be single-sourced.
>>
>> Apparently, the ministry had sought the exemption on the
>> grounds of the
>> onset of the monsoon season in the Indian Ocean and the
>> consequent need
>> to fast-track the project.
>>
>> It is understood that, during an earlier meeting in Dubai
>> between Kenya
>> government officials and the Dubai-based Etisalat Ltd —
>> the main private
>> sector sponsors of the project — the point was made to
>> the officials
>> that the marine survey contract and the cable
>> construction contract
>> could not be awarded to separate companies.
>>
>> The government had been warned that it was rare for a
>> cable contractor
>> to accept a marine survey conducted by another firm.
>>
>> Experts had also told the government officials that
>> marine surveys are
>> usually deemed to be part and parcel of construction
>> works and that
>> awarding the survey component separately would amount to
>> giving the
>> construction contract to the same firm.
>>
>> The Office of the Attorney General wants to know why the
>> issues raised
>> by experts had been ignored.
>>
>> TEAMS is one of the largest projects being undertaken by
>> the government
>> this year. The government decided to launch the project
>> when it realised
>> that the EASSy project was facing too many delays.
>>
>> The government is set to invite bids any time from now
>> for a financial
>> arranger who will design a plan to raise money for the
>> project,
>> tentatively expected to be completed by early next year.
>> The contract will be awarded competitively by April this
>> year.
>>
>> The government — through Telkom Kenya — is working with
>> Dubai-based
>> Etilasat to build the cable.
>>
>> The private sector will be invited to either buy shares
>> in the project
>> or will be brought in on the basis of proved capacity to
>> raise funds
>> through models worked out by the financial arranger.
>>
>> The information and communications technology sector in
>> Kenya has for
>> years been held back by reliance on expensive satellite
>> connectivity to
>> the international network.
>>
>> Interest in construction of fibre-optic cable links to
>> the Kenya Coast
>> has risen dramatically and Kenya appears set to acquire
>> cheaper
>> international connectivity in less than two years.
>>
>> First is the planned $200 million EASSy, which is
>> beginning to pick up
>> momentum after a prolonged three-year gestation period.
>>
>> Currently, the proposal is for an open-access operation
>> modelled to
>> allow new entrants to use the infrastructure without
>> paying high entry
>> charges.
>> This is expected to result in low costs for connectivity
>> and exponential
>> growth in transmission.
>> According to the financing plan, up to 85 per cent ($170
>> million) of the
>> funding is to come from development finance institutions,
>> including the
>>
> === message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
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Eric M.K Osiakwan
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