UbuntuNet Alliance is a regional association of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa.  It was established in the latter half of 2005 by five established and emerging NRENs in Eastern and Southern Africa with, these are: MAREN (Malawi), MoRENet, (Mozambique), KENET (Kenya), RwEdNet (Rwanda) and TENET (South Africa). The driving vision was that of securing high speed and affordable Internet connectivity for the African research and education community in Gb/s rather than in Kb/s.

The objectives of the Alliance are, on a non-profit basis, to:

• Develop and improve the interconnectivity between Research and Education Networking (REN) Participants in Africa and their connectivity with research and education networks worldwide and with the Internet generally;
• Develop the knowledge and skills of ICT practitioners in these institutions; and
• Provide related auxiliary services to Research and Education Networking (REN) Participants.

The Alliance is fully incorporated as a non-profit association in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  An affiliated non profit company will soon be registered in Malawi to handle financial and other secretariat functions, and the Alliance will register further affiliates in other African countries as and when operational considerations require this.

To date, the Alliance’s foot print has stretched across the largest land mass of Eastern and Southern Africa with participating NRENs 10 countries. For more information about members, go to the Membership page.