Digital University of Cameroon : First Phase, Computer Distribution On Course

Thanks to a loan from Eximbank China, University Digital Development Centres shall be constructed in State Universities amongst other things.

Six days ago, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, told young people “From this year on, our universities will be connected to the global university cyberspace. The programme to donate computers to our students, which will be pursued actively, will help them to more easily connect thereto and access more and more knowledge and resources.”

This statement is being translated into action each day as the Minister of Higher, Jacques Fame Ndongo continues with the donation of 500,000 laptops to students of State Universities and the other Private Higher Education Institutes. Yesterday was the turn of students at the University of Buea.

Technical details from the Ministry of Higher Education point to the fact that E-National Higher Education Network project is the first phase of the process of building the Digital University of Cameroon thanks to a financial loan of about FCFA 75 billion from Eximbank China to be repaid in 20 years at an interest rate of two per cent.

According to the legal terms, within 24 months the notion of one student-one computer will be a reality in Cameroon. After the acquisition, transportation, distribution and maintenance of 500, 000 laptops for students, which is the first component of the agreement, the second step will be the development of e-Learning and e-Administration. The cost of component one is FCFA 50 billion. That is unit cost of FCFA 100,000 per computer.

The legal terms of the loan agreement signed between the Republic of Cameroon and the People’s Republic of China clearly underlin...