Digital village program launched in Gabon

South Korean company Samsung Electronics Africa on Tuesday launched its "digital villages" model in Libreville, Gabon.

The digital villages program will help to revolutionize life in Gabonese villages where there is no electricity, health centers or schools.

The project will comprise of a solar power generator, a tele- medical center and a mobile clinic that will move from one village to another, offering treatment for most common diseases such as diarrhoea and malaria.

It will equally comprise of a solar powered Internet school equipped with I-pads and an administration center for sending or receiving letters.

"The objective of this kind of a village is to bridge the digital gap between towns and villages," Gabon's Digital Economy Minister Pastor Ngoua N'neme said.

After the acquisition of the first prototype, Gabon hopes to install 2,500 other digital villages across the country in the next 15 years.

The director for Samsung Electronics -- Central Africa, Bill Kim, said his company had already installed a similar digital village in South Africa in 2013.

Samsung Digital Villages are part of the company's far-reaching African citizenship program, designed to positively impact the lives of five million people by the end of 2015.

Digital Villages have equally been installed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan. Other digital villages will be installed this year in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Endi