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Libreville Newest City To Host A Samsung Digital Village

Libreville Newest City To Host A Samsung Digital Village

Last week Samsung signed off on its seventh digital village in Libreville, Gabon, according to IT Web Africa. The solar powered shipping containers are placed in communities that could use assistance in the area of technological development.

The village comes equipped with an internet school, health facilities, an administration facility, LED lighting and a solar powered generator.

Two years ago, Samsung’s first digital village was unveiled in Johannesburg. In Libreville, Airtel and Gabon Telecom will work together to provide internet service, IT Web Africa noted.

“Gabon’s vision for socio-economic development through ICTs made this the ideal site for a pilot Digital Village in the region,” Ntutule Tshenye, Samsung Africa public affairs and corporate citizenship head said in the report.

Samsung’s Internet School project — where only mobile educational centers were placed in underserved communities — has been in rotation since 2011. The digital village expands on this idea further tackling the continent’s electricity hurdle.

The government of Gabon and Samsung held a ceremony for the launch where Tshenye explained that for some communities, the village provides first-time access to necessary health and tech services.

Health centers will work to prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as malaria and diarrhea. The administration center will come in handy as locals will be able to retrieve mail.

“The objective of this kind of village is to bridge the digital gap between towns and villages,” Pastor Ngoua N’neme, Gabon’s digital economy minister said in a Communications Africa report.

More Samsung digital villages are set to launch in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ethiopia later in 2015.