Major Contract to Bring World-Wide Fiber Optic Connectivity to Ghana

Africa ONE and UCSI Sign Major Contract to Bring World-Wide Fiber Optic Connectivity to Ghana Date:

Accra, Ghana; June 29, 2000 - Africa ONE, Ltd. and United Communications Systems International (UCSI) / Ghana Net signed a major agreement in Accra, Ghana today that will bring world-wide fiber-optic connectivity to the Republic of Ghana. Attending the signing ceremony were Ghana's Minister of Communications John Mahama and US Ambassador to Ghana Kathryn Robinson.

Under the agreement UCSI / Ghana Net will purchase capacity on Africa ONE, a state-of-the art fiber-optic network that will ring the African continent and connect African countries to one another and to the rest of the world. With connections to the Global Crossing worldwide cable system, Africa ONE, through UCSI / Ghana Net, will link Ghana with more than 200 cities around the globe and make calls within Africa more affordable and more reliable.

"Together with UCSI/Ghana Net, we will provide Ghanaians with the on-ramp they will need to connect to the information superhighway," said Patricia Bagnell, President of Africa ONE. "Our network will make access to the Internet, e-commerce, and email, more widely available, thus helping Ghana compete in the global marketplace."

Africa ONE Ltd. is a private company that will build and operate a 32,000-kilometer undersea fiber optic network that will encircle Africa. With landing points in Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East, Africa ONE will offer all regions of Africa something they have never had before: secure, affordable fiber-optic technology that provides automatic restoration in the event of a break.

A major player in the telecommunications industry in Ghana, UCSI/Ghana Net, is bringing the first broadband ATM multi-service network (video, voice and data) to Ghana. UCSI recently announced its decision to deploy the Nortel broadband wireless access network in major cities across Ghana. The agreement with Africa ONE will expand UCSI/Ghana Net's global connectivity.

"Our agreements with Africa ONE and Nortel demonstrate UCSI's commitment to delivering high-performance Internet and telecommunications services not previously available to Ghana," Charles W. Johnson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of USCI said. "Ghanaian consumers and businesses will benefit from a more affordable and technologically advanced network that will narrow the "digital divide," he added.

For more information on the Africa ONE network, please visit our web site at www.africaone.com. Or contact Victoria Butler (vabtmc@aol.com) or Nancy Jackson (jackson@africaone.com) in Washington DC at 202-261-2858

For more information about UCSI/GhanaNet, please contact Theo Botchway in Accra, Ghana at 233-21-246160.