On 6 May 2025, Bayobab Uganda announced the completion of a new 260-km fibre optic route from the capital Kampala to Tororo, with an extension to Malaba on the border with Kenya. This new 260-km fibre route was deployed between December 2024 and February 2025 along Uganda Railway, and connects to Bayobab Kenya’s national long distance fibre network running from Malaba and Busia to Nairobi and submarine cable landing stations in Mombasa. The new Kampala – Malaba route along Uganda Railways complements the existing MTN fibre cable routes along the Malaba–Kamuli–Kayunga–Jinja–Kampala, Malaba–Tororo–Lira–Karuma–Masindi–Luweero–Kampala, and Busia–Jinja–Mabira–Kampala routes. In August 2024, Bayobab Kenya announced the completion of a new long-distance fibre network running from the coastal city of Mombasa via the capital Nairobi to Malaba and Busia on the border with neighbouring Uganda (see Kenya: Bayobab Launches 1,000-Km Kenya Railways Fibre Route From Mombasa... Read More →
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Tanzania: NICTBB Plans Submarine Cable To DRC Through Lake Tanganyika
On 9 April 2025, it was announced in parliament that the Tanzanian government has begun to take steps to implement the construction of a 186-kilometre fibre optic cable from Kigoma (Tanzania) to Kalemie (Democratic Republic of Congo) through Lake Tanganyika. The National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) shows a planned submarine cable from Kigoma to Kalemie on its network roll-out map. The government also said that it has continued to implement the NICTBB whereby by February 2025, 13,820 kilometers out of 16,280 have been constructed, connecting 109 out of 139 districts with 111 communication service centers (see also Tanzania: TTCL Awards Contract To Huawei To Expand NICTBB Fibre Backbone By 1,520-Km). Meanwhile, BCS announced last month the completion of a submarine fibre optic cable running from Uvira to Kalemie in Eastern DRC (see DRC: BCS Completes 400-Km Lake Tanganyika Submarine Cable Project), and last year the governments of Burundi and Zambia signed a Memorandum of Understanding... Read More →
DRC: BCS Completes 400-Km Lake Tanganyika Submarine Cable Project
During March 2025, Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS) announced that it had completed the deployment of a 400-km submarine cable through Lake Tanganyika. The 24 core submarine cable connects Uvira and Kalemie in Eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), and future plans could expand connectivity to Tanzania and Burundi (see also DRC: BCS Deploys Submarine Cable Through Lake Tanganyika From Uvira - Kalemie). BCS previously laid a cross-border submarine cable through Lake Albert between Uganda and DRC during 2019, and in 2020 deployed a second cable through Lake Albert. BCS is currently also installing 2,500-km of fibre optic cable along railway lines in the Eastern DRC which will link Kalemie to Kamina, Bukama, Sakania (see DRC: BCS Signs Agreement With SNCC To Deploy 2,500-Km Fibre Along Railway Lines in DRC). Read More →
Gabon: Medusa Africa Secures Funding To Extend Submarine Cable To West Africa, Signs C&MA With ACE Gabon To Land Cable In Port Gentil
On 12 March 2025, AFR-IX Telecom, an infrastructure and telecom operator in Africa, announced that it had secured new funding from the European Commission to support the development of the Medusa Africa submarine cable system project. According to a company press release, the European Commission, through its Backbone Connectivity for Digital Global Gateways program (CEF – DIG 2023 – GATEWAYS), has awarded a €14,3 million grant to support the MEDUSA AFRICA project to connect the Southern European Data Gateway with Atlantic Africa with a 24 fibre pair submarine cable system. This project lays the groundwork for a dedicated African connectivity subsystem within the overall Medusa Submarine Cable System, which includes building a Branching Unit in the Atlantic facing Africa, and the marine survey from that Branching Unit to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and countries along the West coast of Africa up to DRC, in order to deploy in the future, a 24 fiber pair submarine cable. On... Read More →
Tanzania: Tanzania’s International Internet Bandwidth Increases By 63% During 2024
Tanzania’s international Internet bandwidth capacity reached 1.868 Tbps in December 2024, according to latest statistics published by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), a 63% increase during 2024. TCRA reported a total available incoming international Internet capacity of 17.2 Tbps, of which 1.868 Tbps was activated, leaving 15.332 Tbps available for new activation. Previously, TCRA reported an international bandwidth of 1.144 Tbps in December 2023, 1.048 Tbps by June 2023, 771 Gbps by December 2022, and 327 Gbps by September 2022. Tanzania is the tenth African country to reach the milestone of 1 Tbps (see Tanzania: Tanzania’s International Bandwidth Reaches 1 Tbps, June 2023). Four submarine cables currently land in Tanzania: SEACOM, EASSy, SEAS and 2Africa. Source: TCRA Read More →
Tanzania: Vodacom Tanzania Signs Agreement With ZICTIA For Access To Submarine Cable Connecting Zanzibar
On 26 February 2025, leading mobile operator Vodacom Tanzania signed a strategic partnership with the Zanzibar Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA) to enhance connectivity and digital transformation in Zanzibar. The agreement, signed at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport headquarters in Zanzibar, grants Vodacom access to government-owned fiber optic infrastructure, strengthening the region’s voice and data traffic capabilities. According to a company press release, Vodacom will secure submarine cable services connecting Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam with a capacity of 10 GB of data, vastly improving communication services, including internet speed and reliability. Source: Vodacom Tanzania Read More →
South Africa: Meta Announces Planned Waterworth Submarine Cable Landing in South Africa
Filed under: Capacity, Submarine Cable Tags: South Africa
On 14 February 2025, Meta Engineering announced a new submarine cable project that is planned will land in South Africa. Called Project Waterworth, the 50,000-km submarine cable will contain 24 fibre pairs and span five continents connecting the USA, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions. According to a company press release, the new cable will deploy first-of-its-kind routing, maximizing the cable laid in deep water at depths up to 7,000 meters and use enhanced burial techniques in high-risk fault areas, such as shallow waters near the coast, to avoid damage from ship anchors and other hazards. Project Waterworth will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment to strengthen the scale and reliability of the world’s digital highways by opening three new oceanic corridors with the abundant, high speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world. Source: Engineering at Meta Read More →
Liberia: Orange Liberia Completes Djoliba Cross-Border Fibre Network To Côte d'Ivoire
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul Tags: Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia
On 22 August 2024, Orange Côte d'Ivoire announced the launch of the Djoliba regional fibre backbone network in Liberia. This followed the completion of a terrestrial fibre network running from the capital city Monrovia to the border of Côte d'Ivoire, in addition to the ACE submarine cable which lands in Monrovia. Orange Liberia has built an additional 850-km of fibre optic network (both aerial and buried fibre optic cable), in addition to the 421-km it had deployed by 2022. According to its 2024 annual report, Orange Côte d'Ivoire said that it had extended its fibre optic network to 12 new towns in Côte d'Ivoire, 2 new towns in Burkina Faso and 2 new towns in Liberia. Five years ago in 2020, Orange announced the commercial launch of 'Djoliba', a West African regional fibre optic backbone network (see Africa: Orange Announces Commercial Launch of ‘Djioliba’ West African Regional Fibre Optic Backbone). The new network is operated and maintained from Dakar (Senegal) and covers eight... Read More →
Uganda: NITA-U Launches Phase 5 of National Fibre Backbone Project
On 4 December 2024, the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) announced the launched the fifth phase of the National Backbone Infrastructure and E-Government Infrastructure Project (NBI/EGI). NITA-U has completed the first four phases of the NBI, according to a press release, including the laying of 4,387-km of fibre optic backbone network that connects 53 district headquarters, 11 major border stations, and 1,480 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). The fifth phase, funded by the Government of China through the Export–Import (EXIM) Bank of China, will deploy an additional 5,845-km of fibre optic network, covering 63 more districts and includes last-mile connectivity to over 2,800 sites, such as schools, hospitals, government institutions, parishes, youth centers, and community centers. The first phase of the NBI/ EGI project comprised 198-km of fibre network connecting Kampala (the capital), Mukono, Jinja, Bombo and Entebbe. The second phase comprised 1,400-km of... Read More →
Botswana: Liquid Completes 730-Km Fibre Route Connecting Gaborone With South Africa And Zimbabwe
On 12 December 2024, Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) announced the completion of a 730-km fibre optic route from Ramatlabama on the southern border with South Africa to Ramokgwebana near the eastern border with Zimbabwe. According to a company press release, this 730-km route runs along the A1 road and connects key towns and cities including Francistown, Mahalapye, Palapye and the capital Gaborone. In addition to providing enhanced services to local users in Botswana, the fibre expansion project extends beyond national boundaries, becoming a connector of countries by connecting with the fibre networks in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. Previously in November 2020, Liquid Telecom activated an 82-km fibre optic link from Gaborone to Lobatse near the border with South Africa, providing a new cross-border interconnection between Botswana and South Africa (see Botswana: Liquid Telecom Implements Cross Border Fibre Link To South Africa... Read More →
Africa: Ethio Telecom, Djibouti Telecom, and Sudatel Sign MoU For Horizon Fibre Initiative
Filed under: Capacity, Fibre Long Haul, Submarine Cable Tags: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan
On 3 December 2024, Ethio Telecom, Djibouti Telecom, and Sudatel Telecom Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Horizon Fibre Initiative, to deploy a new high capacity, diverse cross-border terrestrial fibre route between Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan to connect the Horn of Africa to Europe and Asia. The Horizon Fiber Initiative has been in discussion since June 2024, when a technical team was established with representatives from all three operators. With an accelerated timeline, the partners aim to finalize the contract by the end of January 2024 and commence services by April 2025. “The Horizon Fibre Cable Initiative offers a transformative solution to the persistent challenges posed by submarine fibre cables in the Red Sea”, said a company press release. “These cables are frequently disrupted by issues such as anchoring incidents, degradation, potential sabotage, natural disaster and conflicts, all of which result in significant service interruptions and costly... Read More →
Botswana: Paratus Starts Construction Of SADC Highway Fibre Route Connecting Botswana With Zimbabwe And Zambia
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul Tags: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
On 4 December 2024, Paratus Botswana announced that it had started construction of a new regional fibre optic route, which it calls the “SADC Highway”, that will connect Gaborone in Botswana, through Zimbabwe, to Livingstone in Zambia. The first section in Botswana, running from Gaborone to Plumtree on the border with Zimbabwe, spans approximately 500-km and is scheduled for completion in February 2025 according to a company press release. The new SADC Highway route follows the recent completion of a new 840-km Botswana Kalahari Fibre (BKF) fibre route from Gaborone to the border with Namibia, which is now operational. Once completed, the SADC Highway route will deliver up to 11 Tbps of potential new capacity to Zimbabwe and Zambia, providing critical redundancy for existing routes through South Africa. The route offers an alternative to connect to the Equiano subsea cable at Swakopmund in Namibia, as well as a direct route South to the Teraco Data Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. In... Read More →
Cape Verde: Cabo Verde Telecom Launches Tender To Expand Submarine Inter Island Cable System
On 6 December 2024, Cabo Verde Telecom (CV Telecom) launched a tender for the design, supply and installation of six segments (750-km) of its submarine inter island cable system. The deadline for submission of bids is 6 February 2025, works are anticipated to commence in August 2025, and commissioning expected by June 2026. Cabo Verde Telecom’s inter-island cable was first launched in 1997, and was extended in 2002 to reach Porto Novo (Santo Antão) and to close a ring between S. Peter (Santo Vincent) and Tarrafal (Santiago). In 2010 the operator announced plans to extend the inter-island submarine cable to connect the islands of Fogo, Brava and Maio. Phase III of the inter-island submarine cable increased the fibre length to 2,050-km, and installed a new section connecting the islands of Santiago and Brava, and a second extension from between the islands of Santo Vicente and Santo Antão (see Cape Verde: Cabo Verde Telecom Embarks On Phase III Of Inter-Island Submarine Cable). Source:... Read More →
Burundi: Zambia and Burundi Sign MoU For Fibre Optic Link Through Lake Tanganyika
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul, Submarine Cable Tags: Burundi, DRC, Tanzania, Zambia
The Zambian government announced during October 2024 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Burundi to facilitate the deployment of a bilateral fibre optic connection between the two countries. According to a government press release, a submarine fibre optic cable will be laid under Lake Tanganyika from Mpulungu District in Northern Province of Zambia, along the lake into Burundi. The Minister of Technology and Science Felix Mutati said that the private sector has commenced work on the project. Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS) previously announced during 2022 that it was deploying a submarine fibre optic cable link through Lake Tanganyika to connect the towns of Bukavu, Uvira, Baraka and Kalemie in Eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), and to serve as an alternate gateway in Eastern and Southern Africa (see DRC: BCS Deploys Submarine Cable Through Lake Tanganyika From Uvira – Kalemie). BCS previously laid a cross-border submarine cable through... Read More →
Zambia’s International Bandwidth Increases By 95% To Reach 345 Gbps By June 2024
Filed under: Capacity, Fibre Long Haul, Fibre Metro Tags: Zambia
Zambia’s utilised international Internet bandwidth reached 345.4 Gbps by June 2024, according to latest figures published by ZICTA (Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority). This was a 95% increase compared to 177.4 Gbps in June 2023, with ZICTA also reporting 177.1 Gbps by December 2023, 124.4 Gbps in 2022, 98.3 Gbps in 2021, 95.2 Gbps in 2020, and 80.4 Gbps in 2019 (see also Zambia: International Internet Bandwidth Reaches 177.1 Gbps, Dec 2023). The total equipped international capacity of wholesale carriers reached 1.080 Tbps by June 2024, compared to 976 Gbps by December 2023, 974.6 Gbps in June 2023 and 840.2 Gbps in December 2022. “This growth was mostly attributed to increased capacity by Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Global Connect in the first half of 2024,” said ZICTA in its 2024 mid-year market report, adding that “the increased network capacity and utilization stems from the increasing demand for broadband services amongst consumers. ZICTA also... Read More →