Core Part of 2Africa Subsea Fibre Cable Between UK and Africa Completed

Telecoms giant Vodafone have today confirmed that the long-running 2Africa project, which has spent the past 6 years building a 45,000km long subsea (submarine) fibre optic cable between the United Kingdom and most of coastal Africa, has completed the core part of its cable system.

The new cable network has landings in 33 countries – including one in England at a site in Bude (Cornwall) – and should help to support faster broadband speeds, boosting mobile network capacity and better international internet connectivity. On the West segment – from the UK to South Africa – the cable supports 168Tbps (Terabits per second) of data capacity. In the Mediterranean, shorter distances allow speeds of over 180Tbps.

The new cable broadly doubles the internet capacity available to the African continent. Over 35 offshore vessels and extensive local operations were mobilised to lay the cable, with specialist equipment deployed to ensure safe and resilient installation. Cable burial depth was also increased by 50%, reducing the risk of accidental cuts. 2Africa was also carefully routed to avoid seabed hazards like hot brine pools and the fierce currents in the Congo Canyon.

“2Africa took nearly six years to build and required constant adaptation to dynamic regulatory landscapes. The project’s success depended on strong partnerships and close collaboration with regulators and policymakers across many countries. Their support was essential in navigating requirements, overcoming challenges, and keeping the project on track,” said Vodafone’s statement.

The leap in capacity is expected to contribute up to US$36.9 billion to Africa’s GDP within the first two to three years of operation, boosting job creation, entrepreneurship, and innovation hubs across the continent.