2Africa

What 2Africa does

2Africa is a consortium-led subsea fiber-optic cable infrastructure project spanning more than 45,000 km around the African continent — the longest subsea cable system ever deployed. Conceived in 2018 and formally launched in May 2020, the system reached core-system completion in November 2025. It connects 46 landing stations across 33 countries spanning Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, traverses 50 jurisdictions, and is designed to deliver a total capacity of 180 Tbps using Alcatel Submarine Networks' Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM1) technology. The addressable market covers approximately 3 billion people, or roughly 36% of the global population.

The project is funded, owned, and operated by eight consortium members: Meta, China Mobile International, Bayobab (MTN Group), Orange, center3 (STC), Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC. Its business model is wholesale, open-access international capacity sold to telecom operators, ISPs, content platforms, and hyperscale cloud providers on a non-discriminatory basis. The cable includes a unique terrestrial crossing of Egypt between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, providing route diversity distinct from the Suez Canal corridor, and interconnects with other major systems including SEA-ME-WE 5 and AAE-1.

Because 2Africa is structured as a consortium rather than a single corporate entity, there is no consolidated public financial reporting. Revenue is generated internally by each consortium member reselling capacity to its own end customers, with economics allocated according to ownership share. The system has been progressively expanded through extensions such as PEARLS to the Arabian Gulf, India, and Pakistan, and via a European landing in Genoa established in April 2022 in partnership with Equinix and Retelit.

Name

2Africa

Legal name

2Africa

Website

https://2africacable.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

2Africa is a consortium-led subsea fiber-optic cable system spanning 45,000+ km across 33 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, delivering 180 Tbps of wholesale capacity to telecom operators, ISPs, and cloud providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Subsea Telecommunications Infrastructure

NAICS

Wired Telecommunications Carriers (517111), Wired and Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) (51711), Wired and Wireless Telecommunications (except Satellite) (5171)

SIC

Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813), Communications Services, Nec (4899)

akta.pro primary industry

Subsea Cable System Owners & Consortia (Wet Plant Investment) (HDAIALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cable Route Engineering, Permitting & Marine Survey (Seabed/Environmental) (HDAIALAK), Subsea & Terrestrial Backhaul to Data Centers and Cloud On-Ramps (IX/DC Interconnect) (HDAIALAJ), Subsea Capacity Wholesale (IRUs, leased capacity, backhaul to landing stations) (HDAIAEAI)

Keywords

• Subsea cable infrastructure
• Wholesale international capacity
• Fiber-optic network services
• Open-access cable landing
• Carrier-neutral connectivity

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Wholesale International Capacity: 2Africa generates revenue through wholesale sale of international connectivity capacity to service providers including telecom operators, mobile networks, ISPs, content providers, and cloud providers. Capacity is sold at carrier-neutral data centers or open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis, supporting healthy internet ecosystem development. The consortium members (Meta, CMI, Bayobab, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, WIOCC, center3) collectively fund and manage the cable system.
2. Open Access Landing Fees: Revenue is generated through open access landing fees where service providers pay for capacity access at fair and reasonable prices on transparent and non-discriminatory terms. Operators of cable landing stations that fail to provide fair access may be disconnected from the 2Africa system, ensuring compliance with open access principles.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

2Africa is a wholesale subsea fiber-optic cable infrastructure system that sells international connectivity capacity to telecom operators, mobile networks, ISPs, content providers, and cloud providers. The 45,000+ km open-access cable encircles Africa with 46 planned landings across 33 countries on three continents, delivering up to 180 Tbps of capacity under an open-access model at carrier-neutral data centers and cable landing stations.

Product overview

2Africa is a unified subsea cable infrastructure project comprising the core 2Africa cable system and its PEARLS extension. The main 2Africa cable is a 45,000+ km subsea fiber-optic system encircling Africa with 46 planned landings in 33 countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia. The PEARLS extension adds connectivity to the Arabian Gulf, India, and Pakistan. The project also includes the Egypt terrestrial crossing providing diverse routes across Egypt. Together, these components deliver up to 180 Tbps of capacity serving over 3 billion people. The system operates as an open-access infrastructure where capacity is available to service providers at carrier-neutral data centers on a fair and equitable basis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 2Africa Subsea Cable System A 45,000+ km undersea fiber-optic cable system encircling Africa with 46 planned landings in 33 countries across three continents, delivering up to 180 Tbps of high-bandwidth, low-latency internet capacity to support 4G, 5G, and fixed broadband access for over 3 billion people.
• 2Africa PEARLS Extension An extension to the core 2Africa cable system adding landing points in Oman (Barka), UAE (Abu Dhabi and Kalba), Qatar (Doha), Bahrain (Manama), Kuwait (Kuwait), Iraq (Al-Faw), Pakistan (Karachi), India (Mumbai), and Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar), extending connectivity to the Arabian Gulf, India, and Pakistan.
• 2Africa Egypt Terrestrial Crossing A terrestrial fiber-optic crossing across Egypt connecting the Red Sea landing site at Ras Ghareb to the Mediterranean landing site at Port Said via two diverse terrestrial routes, complemented by a third marine path linking Ras Ghareb and Suez landing stations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Africa's GDP improvement of up to 0.58%, equivalent to approximately $36.9 billion USD at PPP within the first 2-3 years of operation
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• EquinixflagshipTechnology or Integration · 14 April 2022Equinix partnered with Vodafone to land the 2Africa cable directly into the Equinix Carrier Neutral Data Center (CNDC) in Genoa, Italy. This partnership enables direct access to carrier-neutral infrastructure for all service providers seeking capacity from the 2Africa cable landing.
• SEA-ME-WE 5 and AAE-1coreTechnology or Integration · 28 September 20212Africa interconnects with SEA-ME-WE 5 and AAE-1 subsea cables to provide expanded connectivity to Asia. These interconnection points enable seamless routing between Africa, Europe, and Asia through complementary submarine cable systems.
• Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN)coreTechnology or Integration · 10 May 2019ASN was awarded the contract to build the 2Africa cable system following the tender process. ASN deploys SDM1 technology allowing up to 16 fiber pairs and manufactures cable and repeater units in Calais and Greenwich factories. ASN provides the technical expertise and infrastructure for cable deployment.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EllaLink: Open-access subsea cable connecting Europe to Latin America with a comparable carrier-neutral, open-access business model. Comparable as a next-generation, neutral-infrastructure cable architecture even though its geography differs.
• PEACE Cable International Network: Singapore-led subsea cable linking Asia to Africa and Europe through the Egypt corridor. Directly competes with 2Africa's Asia-Africa path via the trans-Egypt crossing and is being expanded into additional African landings.
• SEACOM: Privately operated subsea cable serving East Africa with carrier-neutral landings similar in concept to 2Africa's open-access model. Competes directly for the same hyperscaler and telco capacity buyers in East Africa.
• MainOne: Nigerian-owned subsea cable system (now part of Equinix) serving West Africa with open-access capacity. Direct competitor for Nigerian and West African wholesale customers and data center interconnects.
• Equiano (Google): Google's subsea cable system serving the West Coast of Africa with similar open-access objectives. Equiano is the most direct competitor in scale and purpose to 2Africa and is built by a single hyperscaler-backed owner rather than a consortium.
• Africa Coast to Europe (ACE): Consortium-led subsea cable connecting West Africa to Europe, operated by a similar coalition of African and European telecoms. Directly competes with 2Africa for wholesale capacity buyers on West African routes.
• SAT-3/WASC: One of the older consortium subsea cables serving West and Southern Africa to Europe. Although aging, it competes with 2Africa on price-sensitive legacy routes and shares several consortium-member telcos as investors.
• EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System): Consortium subsea cable serving East African coastal nations with multiple telco shareholders overlapping with 2Africa partners. Competes for the same East African wholesale market.
• West Africa Cable System (WACS): Consortium subsea cable linking South Africa to the UK with multiple West African landings. Overlaps with 2Africa on key landing countries and the same wholesale telco buyer base.

Others

• Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN): The vendor (Nokia subsidiary) that physically builds 2Africa and most competing subsea cable systems. Relevant peer because it is the technology and wet-plant supplier for 2Africa as well as for nearly all the cables competing against it, making it the upstream infrastructure provider for the category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 2Africa