MTN’s Bayobab, a provider of pan-African digital connectivity solutions, has finally landed its 45,000km-long 2Africa cable in Ghana and Nigeria.
The MTN Group-owned company announced the landing, saying 2Africa consortium is developing the “largest subsea cable project” in the world.
Bayobab said the landing in on Friday means Ghanaian and Nigerian service providers will be able to obtain capacity in carrier-neutral data centres or open-access cable landing stations in a “fair and equitable” manner.
The company said this would contribute to the establishment of a “healthy internet ecosystem” by providing significantly better internet accessibility for businesses of all sizes and customers.
Bayobab, the 2Africa landing party in both nations, collaborated with MTN Opcos to complete the landings.
According to Bayobab, Nigeria and Ghana will play important roles in the development of West Africa’s digital economy.
It said, “Ghana is a crucial market and hub for bordering nations such as Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. Ghana is also gaining strategic importance in the WECA region, as the country now has six cable landings, including 2Africa, which provide fast and stable internet connections.
“The 2Africa cable will, therefore, go a long way towards transforming the region’s connectivity landscape.”
The 2Africa consortium comprises Bayobab, Center3, China Mobile International, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC.
Bayobab said cables like 2Africa lay the foundation for the global internet, connecting people and continents, and once live, they will help deliver better and much-needed capacity between Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The much-anticipated subsea cable infrastructure is expected to connect billions of people once completed. The partnership claims it will be the longest undersea cable ever deployed, supporting communities that rely on the internet for services such as education, healthcare, and business.
2Africa aims to connect Europe, Africa, and the Middle East by circumnavigating the continent’s coastline.
For Bayobab, these landings are the third and fourth in a series of six landings across five countries. This includes three locations in West Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, in addition to South Africa.
Frédéric Schepens, CEO of Bayobab said, “The 2Africa initiative is at the core of the work we do as Bayobab, with the ultimate goal of connecting Africa to the world and the world to Africa. We are eager to continue offering services that will expand the rapidly growing African digital economy and positively impact growth across the continent.”
While, Mohammed Aliyu, chief fibreCo officer of Bayobab, added, “We want to deeply support the African continent’s capacity needs and provide the required digital infrastructure that can boost the digital economy.
‘’These cable landings lend further credence to our East2West project, which will enable us to bridge the digital divide in West Africa and the rest of the continent by supplying dark fibre access as well as active fibre capacity across more than 10 African countries, connecting several landlocked countries to subsea cables in the process”
