On the 6th and 7th of February, 2014 BAIP – as a lead partner in a joint venture agreement with other BAIP group companies Norway Registers Development AS and Norway Registers Development East Africa Ltd – signed 2 contracts with Burundi Central Bank (BRB) and The Financial and Private Sector Development Project of Burundi (PSD) for BRB Data Center, required to run and support National Payment Systems and Bank Supervision applications, implementation and maintenance.
The project is funded by the World Bank via the Financial and Private Sector Development Project (PSD), serving as the implementing agency. The contract, signed with PSD, is worth 2.45 million USD and will be executed in 11 months. After that, 5 year maintenance contract (1 year warranty and 4 years post-warranty), signed with Burundi Central Bank, will begin, with grand total amount of post-warranty maintenance services worth almost 0.25 million USD for 4 years.
“Modernisation of the data centre infrastructure of the Central Bank of Burundi will give the necessary momentum for the development of the financial sector and banking system in the country”, commented the first deputy Governor of BRB Mr. Melchior Wagara.
The new platform will support the Payment System Applications, the Banking Information System and the data interchange needs between them as well as between the Central Bank of Burundi and external customers – Government Ministries and other institutions.
“It will improve accessibility of financial services and increase the speed of electronic transactions between banks, businesses and citizens which will also have a positive impact on the overall business climate in Burundi”, noted Mr. Louis Ndikumana, Coordinator of the Financial and Private Sector Development Project.
Commenting on the contracts, the CEO of BAIP Gytis Umantas said that “Both in terms of geography – East Africa, and the scope of the project – architecture and implementation of critical IT infrastructure solutions, this is in our area of focus and expertise. We are excited to see that customers in East Africa are increasingly demanding world class quality of service. This has given us a competitive advantage and we will work hard to justify the trust which the Society of Burundi is putting in us”.
Under the scope of the project, BAIP group companies will provide the Central Bank of Burundi with modern Data Center infrastructure, including the delivery of equipment, the design, installation, and Operations for the next 5 years as well as implementation of all operational procedures and processes and coaching of, training of, and knowledge transfer to the IT personnel of the Central Bank of Burundi in order for the BRB to become self-sufficient in the operation and maintenance of the new services and related technologies.
The project will be implemented in three sites: the main Data Centre at the Head Office of the Central Bank of Burundi in Bujumbura, a Disaster Recovery Center in Ngozi branch and a branch in Gitega – more than 500 workplaces overall. The Disaster Recovery Center will able to ensure system resilience and provide availability within hours. Despite the power supply and connectivity limitations, 99.95% reliability of all BRB systems and functioning of critical business applications is expected.
About BAIP group
BAIP group is a group of specialized companies working in the field of informatics and legal informatics. Main focus areas include business climate improvement reforms, integrated national information system design, critical IT infrastructure resilience, national cyber security and cyber defence. The group manages: BAIP, “Acena”, “NRD”, Norway Registers Development AS, Norway Registers East Africa Limited, and NRD CS. BAIP group operates and implements projects in the Central and Eastern Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions. More information: www.baipgroup.lt
About Burundi Central Bank
The Bank of the Republic of Burundi (French: Banque de la République du Burundi, BRB) is the central bank of Burundi. The bank was established in 1966. The headquarters are in Bujumbura and two branches are located in Gitega and Ngozi. More information: http://www.brb.bi/
About Burundi Financial and Private Sector Development Project (PAGE/PSD)
The Government of the Republic of Burundi has obtained funding from the World Bank International Development Association (IDA) for the implementation of the Private and Financial Sector Development Project (PSD), directly supervised by the Ministry of Finance.
The objective of the Private and Financial Sector Development Project is to strengthen Burundi’s financial sector and to improve Burundi’s business-enabling environment. The four project components are: (i) modernizing the financial sector; (ii) improving corporate governance and performance of public enterprises; (iii) improving the regulatory environment for private sector enterprises; and (iv) project implementation.
More information: http://www.psd.bi/index.php
