AFRICA one of the three partners who began the company . He has always been interested in the technology industry . Before GBS started he was one of the first people to bring the internet to the Congo in the late 90s . In the 2002 they sold that company and then later started GBS as he wanted to get back into the internet business .”

With insufficient funds to start a company , Bashir looked to Daniel Vanderstraete and Hassan Yahfoufi for help . They provided the capital and so the GBS partnership began . With Hassan as CEO , Daniel as Managing Partner from Brussels and Bashir on the ground in Kinshasa , they have built a company that has developed wireless and fiber Local Loops in most major cities as well as installed thousands of satellites for both residential and corporate clients , bringing the internet many parts of the Congo ’ s for the first time .

GBS works across a very large area , where up until now there has been very little technological development . As Zubeir explains , the last couple of years has seen major changes in

how internet service is provided . He says : “ Today how we provide internet is either via satellite or via fiber , depending on where in the country the customer is . Up until two years ago it was all satellite , but increasingly fiber is becoming more essential .”

“ In the major cities our business is 60 percent corporate , 40 percent residential . But we also do a lot of projects for the government , for private institutions and for banking institutions . We have put up a private network for the Central Bank of Congo as well as for private banks and oil companies . These companies are often located in remote areas where there is no infrastructure around , so we are able to provide a secure a reliable way to transfer data back to their HQ ’ s in the capital city Kinshasa .”

The introduction of fiber has brought its own challenges , as

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