Either I am unclear or you haven't got it. I would accept free transit from anyone, but I wouldnt trust anyone else than hams with 44/8 addresses, not even research and education networks.
No, I would definitely not decline, I would be happy to accept, as long as it is free for non-commercial use.
So here is the flaw in your logic. These educational and scientific organizations are not in the business of maintaining physical circuits. That is left to the Level3's, Vodafone's and Cogent's of the world. Each of these organizations lease circuits and dark fiber from them. None of them have laid a single piece of cable from one country to another (with perhaps the exception being CERN). They are in the business of Science! Not telecommunications. At some point you are left with peering on a commercial network broadcasting your routes.
Actually the fiber I am referring to can be used both underground, with or without a duct (if you have no termites eating them) and in the air (preferably above power lines to protect them from people believing it is copper inside). Submarine cables are a bit more expensive, but over distances where you can avoid active amplifiers (festoon solutions) less than ten times more. Transatantic is about 30 times more, typically 1 USD/inch.
The fiber optic cable that you use to connect your server to your storage area network is not the same that goes into the ground or in the air or under the ocean. Each of those applications use different cable that is much more expensive.
Yes, the next phase being discussed in Somalia is to interconnect the metropolitan area links. Garowe - Mogadishu is some 2500 km and few intermediate stops. The idea is to include a free fiber pair for research and education, and why not ham activities. The main challenge is not funding but what trustworthy consortium can be formed to own it. There is an economical tradeoff between deploying more fiber and use cwdm/dwdm when there is not enough fiber. cwdm is cheap.
Your analogy of using staff/students to string 16km (9 miles) of fiber while interesting and laudable doesn't apply. We're talking about 1000's of km of long haul DWDM fiber optics and the equipment to boost the signal at regular distances. Depending on where you are running it, you have to have equipment to run it through km's of conduit or across oceans where you have to deal with dragnetters.
If multi-million dollar corporations and cities are having a hard time implementing it, what makes you think a group of blowhards wearing plastic antennas can do it better?
I am certainly aware of that 44net is not regulated by IARU, but by ICANN and that IANA and regional registries may be watching us. I am under the impression, correct me if I am wrong, that the rules applying to 44net are very unclear since the allocation is unique and that it might be better to show good conduct rather than ask or misbehave.
While I completely understand your position and agree with it in some aspect, the fact is that 44net itself is not a space regulated by the IARU and other than whatever your country applies to free speech, is not bound to keeping with non-commercial/non-business rules. It is a allotment of public network address space. Nothing more. Nothing less.