PUBLISHER: BuddeComm | PRODUCT CODE: 1000026
PUBLISHER: BuddeComm | PRODUCT CODE: 1000026
Haiti receives $120 million from the World Bank to boost connectivity and resiliency
After years of hardship following a series of devastating hurricanes interspersed with major earthquakes, Haiti started 2022 still reeling from the latest in a long series of crises to hit the small Caribbean nation. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was relatively small in terms of case numbers and mortality, but the economic fallout has been significant and compounds the misery for the millions already living in poverty.
The country's telecommunications sector has been struggling for more than a decade, since infrastructure was severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake then levelled again in 2016's Hurricane Matthew. Aid agencies and the World Bank have prioritised Haiti and Afghanistan for financial aid and logistical support, including a $120 million grant in May 2022 to improve rural connectivity across the south of the country while increasing network resiliency in urban centres. But with the annual hurricane season just about to begin, it will be touch-and-go for the country's fragile state to survive another battering.