By Vanessa Obioha
As the world continues to take practical steps to combat climate change, Loofca International and Vanu Wireless Inc., USA have entered a partnership to deploy about 10,000 mast sites to boost rural telephony through green energy.
At a sign-off event, the Vice President of Vanu, Anoj Singh specified that the project which will make more rural communities in Africa enjoy digital connectivity will have zero carbon emissions in its execution.
While lauding the opportunity to partner with Vanu, Olufemi Olukoya, the CEO of Loofca International said that the proprietary technology of Vanu which will be deployed on the sites was specifically researched and designed in America.
“So these are special equipment that are very user friendly, low maintenance and run by solar panels. The only maintenance needed is to clean your solar panels. It is one of the best things that can happen across Africa.”
The equipment, Singh added, have been used in other parts of Africa by tier one operators to give voice and data connectivity.
Noting that unstable power supply has been a challenge in most rural communities, Singh said that, “it always makes sense to have a solution with low power potential. So our product has been designed specially for low power consumption, lightweight, easy to access, and easy to maintain. Our products require a minimum skill set in terms of operating base stations.”
Loofca, which has a renowned reputation in the global space for its logistics services that spread across different sectors including manufacturing, is aiming for a three to a five-year partnership with Vanu, according to Olukoya. 2000 sites, he said, are to be deployed in Nigeria within the contract years.
He said, “The most beautiful part of this project is that most tier-one operators have keyed into this vision to roll out 10,000 sites. These sites are our sites. We are making them available for use across Africa.”
