The government of Chad has approved a €175.1 million ($204.7 million) investment to develop a National Data Center and expand the country’s fiber-optic and wireless networks, marking one of its most significant digital infrastructure commitments to date.
The initiative, announced by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Digital Economy and Digitalization of Chad, formally commenced in December and constitutes Phase I of the State Connectivity Infrastructure Modernization Project (PMICE). The first phase includes the construction of a National Data Center, the deployment of approximately 1,200 kilometers of fiber-optic cable, and the expansion of GSM, 3G, and 4G infrastructure nationwide.
An inauguration ceremony held last month in Sarh underscored the political framing of the investment. Boukar Michel, Chad’s Minister of Telecommunications, Digital Economy, and Digitalization, positioned digital infrastructure as both a development and sovereignty imperative. “Digital must not stop at capitals,” he said. “It must irrigate territories, connect regions, and unite the nation.” He added that a modern state’s sovereignty is increasingly measured by its ability to control and manage its digital infrastructure.
According to the minister, fiber networks have now been elevated to the status of national security assets under the current administration, serving as tools of modern governance and instruments of territorial equity. While the government has not disclosed technical specifications or the location of the planned National Data Center, the project signals a clear intent to localize critical digital capacity.
Earlier planning documents from World Bank had estimated the PMICE program at roughly $180 million, with financing expected from an export–import bank. The broader digital transformation agenda referenced in those documents also includes plans for a national Internet Exchange Point and the Trans-Saharan Corridor Project, supported by the European Union.
Earlier reports indicate that the data center spans approximately 500 square meters across four levels and is positioned as a sovereign digital asset supporting public-sector digitization and national data control, though detailed technical specifications such as rack count and IT load have not been publicly disclosed.
The project is funded by China and is being implemented by Huawei Technologies. Chad’s entry into data center development is not entirely new. In 2016, the country commissioned its first facility – a 374-square-meter modular data center designed to support a 400-kilowatt IT load.
What distinguishes the PMICE initiative is scale and intent. By pairing data center development with nationwide fiber rollout and mobile network expansion, Chad is aligning digital infrastructure with state-building objectives – a model increasingly echoed across Africa, as governments seek to retain data locally, improve service delivery, and reduce dependence on external digital platforms.
