How 2Africa Subsea Cable Doubles Africa's Internet Capacity

In May 2020, 2Africa announced plans for the subsea fibre-optic cable system, which is designed to interconnect Africa, Europe and Asia. 2Africa was developed to meet the growth of internet demand across both Africa and the Middle East, where broadband capacity is largely behind global averages.

Five years later, 2Africa has announced that the core section of the 2Africa subsea cable system is now complete, establishing a direct connection between East and West Africa for the first time through a continuous cable route.

As one of the largest undersea infrastructure projects ever undertaken, 2Africa aims to transform connectivity across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Europe, providing a vital boost to internet capacity and enabling more reliable digital services across telecoms networks.

With landing points in 33 countries, 2Africa is set to deliver connectivity to over 3 billion people, equating to more than 30% of the global population.

The cable's impact extends across multiple telecom applications, with capacity, routing resilience and latency all improved to meet growing demands from enterprise networks, cloud computing, AI applications and mobile users.

The system delivers a step change in available international bandwidth across African markets. On its West segment – running from the United Kingdom to South Africa – the cable supports 168Tbps of data throughput. Mediterranean segments reach more than  180Tbps due to shorter distances between landings. 

The technical benchmarks support telecom operators facing pressure to meet rising data consumption and bandwidth-heavy services.

The extra capacity is expected to contribute up to US$36.9bn to Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) within the first two to three years of operation.

The infrastructure supports job creation and entrepreneurship and underpins the region’s emerging innovation ecosystems. 

Furthermore, it enhances long-term capabilities for regional and cross-border telecom services, helping to improve performance for mobile carriers, broadband providers and enterprise network operators.

2Africa is the result of six years of planning and deployment, requiring substantial coordination across regulatory environments.

Support from governments and regulators across different jurisdictions played a central role in keeping the rollout on schedule.

Advanced technologies and subsea engineering

To meet evolving telco needs, 2Africa integrates advanced technologies into its design. The cable features Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) – a transmission method that increases capacity by using multiple spatial channels over a single fibre pair. 

It incorporates undersea optical wavelength switching, allowing flexible bandwidth allocation and dynamic routing. These capabilities are crucial for telcos managing diverse demands from AI workloads, video traffic and cloud-based applications.

Over 35 vessels took part in the offshore deployment process, supported by extensive local operations. 

The installation phase included enhanced engineering measures to improve resilience. Burial depths were increased by 50% to reduce the risk of accidental cuts, while careful routing avoided seabed hazards such as hot brine pools and the high-current Congo Canyon region. 

These precautions aim to protect the cable from physical damage, improving long-term stability and uptime for services dependent on the system.

2Africa more than doubles the internet capacity currently available to the continent, providing a much-needed infrastructure upgrade for a region where digital demand continues to outpace supply.

Consortium collaboration and open network model

The project is led by a consortium of partners including Vodafone Group and its Africa division Vodacom, Meta, Bayobab, center3, CMI, Orange, Telecom Egypt and WIOCC. Alcatel Submarine Networks handled the cable’s manufacturing and installation. 

The group shares a stated commitment to open access, inclusion and competition, aiming to ensure that network operators of all sizes benefit from the infrastructure.

With the inclusion of the Pearls extension, the cable spans 45,000km – a distance longer than the Earth’s circumference. 

The scale of the project reflects both the ambition and the necessity of building infrastructure that can support next-generation telecom applications across multiple continents.

2Africa’s completion marks a critical point in Africa’s connectivity roadmap. By increasing capacity and reducing network bottlenecks, the system offers telecom providers the infrastructure they need to grow services, expand coverage and meet enterprise as well as consumer demands across digital platforms.