A new submarine cable initiative, dubbed Via Africa, is set to reshape digital connectivity between Europe and Africa by creating a major new subsea route along Africa’s Atlantic coastline.
The project, announced through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings together an initial consortium of investors including Canalink, GUILAB, International Mauritania Telecom, Orange Group, Orange Côte d’Ivoire, Sonatel and Silverlinks.
The partners share a common objective: to expand international connectivity capacity, support surging data traffic and improve the resilience of digital infrastructure across the African continent.
The proposed cable system will connect Europe to South Africa, with planned landing stations in the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. Along Africa’s west coast, the network is expected to serve destinations including the Canary Islands, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, with extensions further south designed to enhance connectivity diversity and resilience.
Via Africa will operate under a consortium model, enabling participating operators and digital infrastructure providers to co-invest in and jointly govern the system.
The model gives partners greater autonomy and strategic control over the design, deployment and future operation of the cable while ensuring the infrastructure evolves to meet their specific market requirements.
The consortium remains open to additional telecommunications operators and digital ecosystem players seeking to participate in the project.
The initiative comes as Africa experiences rapid growth in Internet usage, cloud services and digital applications, driving demand for more robust international connectivity.
By introducing a new subsea route that differs from existing cable systems, Via Africa aims to increase network redundancy and reduce the risk of service disruptions caused by cable outages.
The consortium’s immediate priority is to jointly fund a marine route study to identify the optimal path for the cable, balancing resilience, technical feasibility and economic efficiency.
At the same time, preparations are underway to launch a procurement process for selecting a cable supplier, marking the next phase in the development of what could become one of the most strategically significant digital infrastructure projects linking Europe and Africa.
