Connecting Africa and the World
The core 2Africa infrastructure, recognized as the world’s longest open-access subsea cable system, has reached completion. This significant project establishes a new benchmark for global connectivity, representing years of collaborative effort, innovation, and a collective aim to link communities, stimulate economic growth, and facilitate advanced digital experiences throughout Africa and other regions.
Unprecedented Scale and Reach
The 2Africa cable is notable as the first to continuously connect East and West Africa, also linking the continent to the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Currently reaching 33 countries, this system provides connectivity for an estimated 3 billion people across Africa, Europe, and Asia, encompassing over 30% of the global population. This extensive reach is unparalleled, achieved through partnerships with various ecosystem stakeholders to deliver enhanced connectivity on a massive scale.
The 2Africa Subsea Cable reaches 3 continents and lands in 33 countries, connecting over 3 billion people.
Building 2Africa: Partnership, Scale, and Open Access
Africa’s digital future relies on strong, scalable infrastructure developed in collaboration with local communities and partners. Responding to the increasing demand for high-speed internet, a consortium of global entities, including Bayobab (MTN Group), center3 (stc), CMI, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC, united to conceptualize and fund what has become the world’s longest open-access subsea cable system. With the Pearls extension set for activation in 2026, the full 2Africa system will span 45,000 kilometers, exceeding the Earth’s circumference.
Achieving this vision necessitated extensive cooperation between private and public sectors. The project involved managing operations and fostering engagement with local partners for cable landing, construction, and regulatory compliance. Its deployment covered 50 jurisdictions and nearly six years of effort, requiring active participation from regulators and policymakers to address requirements and maintain progress.
The consortium shares a common objective: to establish an open, inclusive network that promotes competition, encourages innovation, and creates new opportunities for millions. This open-access framework allows numerous service providers to utilize the infrastructure, thereby accelerating digital transformation and AI adoption throughout the region. Additional partners, such as Bharti Airtel and MainOne (an Equinix Company), contributed to specific segments and data center integration, broadening the cable’s influence and coverage.
Engineering Innovation and Overcoming Challenges
The construction of 2Africa necessitated pushing the limits of subsea infrastructure capabilities. Advanced spatial division multiplexing (SDM) technology was implemented, supporting up to 16 fiber pairs per cable, which doubles the capacity of previous systems. This marks the first 16-fiber-pair subsea cable to achieve full connectivity across Africa. Undersea optical wavelength switching was also integrated, facilitating flexible bandwidth management and accommodating the growing demands of AI, cloud, and high-bandwidth applications.
The burial depth of 2Africa was increased by 50% compared to earlier systems, and the cable was meticulously routed to bypass seabed hazards like seamounts near hot brine pools, thereby enhancing resilience and network uptime. The system incorporates two independent trunk powering architectures across its West, East, and Mediterranean sections, which optimizes capacity and offers extra resilience against electrical failures. Its branching unit switching capability enabled optimization of trunk capacity and reliability by employing routes significantly further offshore from dangers such as the Congo Canyon turbidity currents, while still effectively serving branches to West African countries. To further guarantee the cable’s integrity and reach, compatible crossing solutions were engineered for over 60 oil and gas pipelines.
During construction, 35 offshore vessels were deployed, accumulating nearly 32 years of operational time. Additionally, dedicated shore-end operations utilized numerous inshore vessels, locally mobilized for tasks such as cable pulling, guarding, security, and dive support. In isolated areas, specialized equipment, including dive decompression chambers and shore-end burial tools, was imported and deployed on locally operated vessels.
Economic Impact and Community Transformation
The 2Africa system is significantly enhancing international bandwidth for Africa, offering technical capacity that substantially surpasses prior systems. For instance, the West segment, extending from England to South Africa and making landings in nations like Senegal, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, DRC, and Angola, supports 21 terabits per second (Tbps) per fiber pair. With 8 fiber pairs on the trunk, this segment achieves a total trunk capacity of up to 180 Tbps.
But what does 180 Tbps mean for people?
- 180 Tbps is enough to stream over 36 million HD movies simultaneously (assuming 5 megabits per second (Mbps) per stream).
- For an individual, this means the potential to download 15,000 full-length Nollywood films (each about 1.5 GB) per second, or enable students to access a remote university’s full library in a minute.
- For a city like Lagos, it means millions of people can video call, stream, and work online at the same time – without experiencing slowdowns or congestion.
This immense capacity guarantees an almost boundless provision of international internet bandwidth, enabling internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) to acquire capacity at considerably reduced wholesale rates. This fosters market competition, enhances redundancy, and supports contemporary digital infrastructure, including cloud services, data centers, and 5G deployment.
The impact is substantial: 2Africa is projected to contribute up to 36.9 billion US dollars to Africa’s GDP within its initial two to three years of operation. The cable’s introduction is anticipated to stimulate job creation, entrepreneurship, and the development of innovation hubs in connected areas. Historical data from previous cable landings indicates that rapid internet access correlates with increased employment rates, enhanced productivity, and a transition towards higher-skill professions.
The vision behind this initiative is to empower African entrepreneurs, creators, and businesses to innovate and collaborate. Through partnerships with policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders, the project aims to advance Africa’s digital transformation and bolster its role as an emerging key player in the global digital economy.
Building Connections, Empowering Progress
The completion of 2Africa marks a pivotal moment for Africa’s digital future. The design, funding, and deployment of what is currently the world’s longest subsea cable system establishes infrastructure poised to enable transformative experiences, stimulate economic growth, and connect billions globally. This initiative lays the groundwork for future digital advancements, providing faster, more dependable internet and supporting AI-driven services through enhanced digital access.
The 2Africa project aligns with a broader mission to advance human connection, creating additional avenues for communities across Africa to contribute to and play a vital role in the evolving global digital economy.
