• The 2Africa cable has landed in South Africa.
• The cable will span 45 000km and connect as many as 19 countries.
• The cable’s construction will be complete by 2024 although the eastern section is expected to be operation by the end of this year.

The 2Africa submarine cable has officially landed in South Africa according to a press release from Vodacom.

The cable is the result of a collaboration of eight partners known as the 2Africa Consortium. The partners include China Mobile International, Meta, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, center3 (stc), Telecom Egypt, Vodafone/Vodacom and WIOCC.

It is the first submarine cable to arrive in the Eastern Cape and will bring much needed capacity to South Africa. The cable has landed at a facility operated by Vodacom in Summerstrand, a suburb in Gqeberha.

“This latest 2Africa cable landing affirms Vodacom’s commitment to driving digital inclusion in Africa by increasing access to quality internet services and investing in the network infrastructure to support this goal. We cannot achieve this alone, and collaboration between other industry stakeholders and the public sector is critical in enabling more citizens across the continent to be connected,” Vodacom Group chief officer for International Markets, Diego Gutierrez said in a statement.

The network operator says that once the fibre cable system is deployed, customers will benefit from improved quality, reliability and lower latency as regards connectivity. In addition, the 2Africa cable landing in Gqeberha has the potential to stoke job creation in the city. In fact, according to a press release from Vodacom, the cable is predicted to grow the economy from $26.2 billion to $36.9 billion in three years of being operational.

To be clear, the cable project is not yet complete but should be fully operational by 2024. The cable is being manufactured and deployed by Alcatel Submarine Networks and spans 45 000km. The cable features 46 landing points with 27 in Africa alone. You can see the full map of the 2Africa cable below.

“Vodacom Group is pleased to be working with our partners in the 2Africa project to bring faster, more reliable internet to local businesses and consumers while helping to build an inclusive digital society on the continent and around the world. The subsea cable system enables more communities to access transformative online resources, from education and healthcare to jobs and financial services, and experience seamless connectivity’s economic and social benefits,” Gutierrez adds.

The good news for South Africa and Vodacom is that it’s expected that the 2Africa East cable will be operational by the end of this year. The cable is expected to improve 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access by providing improved connectivity to underserved and rural areas.