Bayobab, a pan-African digital connectivity solutions provider, has partnered with MTN Nigeria to land a 45,000 km subsea cable in Nigeria. Known as ‘2Africa,’ the cable landing station is at Mopo-Onibeju Lekki area of Lagos. 2Africa is said to be the longest underwater cable in the world, passing through three continents and 33 countries, several of which are in Africa. It aims to expand the rapidly growing African digital economy and positively impact growth across the continent.
According to Josephine Sarouk, Managing Director of Bayobab Nigeria, the cable will directly support economic development in Africa, fostering further growth of 4G, 5G, and increased broadband penetration for millions of people and businesses. She stated, “Bayobab has invested in a myriad of submarine cables to boost much-needed broadband capacity to the continent and bolster efforts to leverage technology to connect the unconnected in Africa and beyond.”
“The landing of 2Africa in Nigeria will supercharge Nigeria’s digital economy, creating space for a vibrant ecosystem bringing digital services to millions of Nigerians in line with the government’s vision for a thriving digital economy,” she added.
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“Our investment in 2Africa is part of our commitment to our customers, bringing resilience to networks and capacity due to the growing demands for digital services such as Fintech, IoT, AI, e-learning, which continue to revolutionize the way customers engage with services, fueling the demand for more data. This landing is further proof of our long-held confidence in the future of the continent,” she said.
The landing of the cable means that Nigerian service providers can access capacity in an open-access cable landing station on a fair and equitable basis. This supports healthy ecosystem development by facilitating greatly improved quality and accessibility of internet connectivity for consumers and local businesses across all sectors.
This milestone achievement by Bayobab and MTN Nigeria will spur economic growth, innovation, and development in the nation. The 2Africa consortium includes Bayobab, Center3, China Mobile International, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC.