Who Owns Africa's Submarine Cables
Hyperscaler-Owned
2Africa
180 Tbps
Equiano
144 Tbps
Combined hyperscaler capacity exceeds all consortium cables by a factor of ~20. These cables exist to carry their owners' own traffic.
Consortium / Private
PEACE
96 Tbps
DARE1
36 Tbps
EASSy
10 Tbps
SEACOM
1.5 Tbps
TEAMS
1.2 Tbps
SAT-3/WASC
0.34 Tbps
WACS
14.5 Tbps
ACE
5.1 Tbps
MainOne
10 Tbps
Cable Details
2Africa
180 Tbps
Owner
Meta Platforms, Inc.
Circumnavigates Africa. 45,000 km. 8 fibre pairs at 21 Tbps each. The single largest cable system on the continent.
✗ No fiscal payments to African states
Equiano
144 Tbps
Owner
Google (Alphabet, Inc.)
Europe to West Africa to South Africa. Named after Olaudah Equiano. Built to carry Google's own traffic and reduce latency for its services.
✗ No fiscal payments to African states
EASSy
10 Tbps
Owner
Telecom Consortium (incl. African carriers)
Eastern Africa Submarine System. Consortium includes African state-affiliated carriers. Damaged in May 2024 off KwaZulu-Natal coast.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
SEACOM
1.5 Tbps
Owner
SEACOM Ltd (private)
East Africa to India. Privately owned. Also damaged in May 2024 outage.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
TEAMS
1.2 Tbps
Owner
Kenya Gov't / Etisalat consortium
The East African Marine System. Kenya to UAE. First cable to land at Mombasa (2009).
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
PEACE
96 Tbps
Owner
PCCW / Hengtong (China-linked)
Pakistan East Africa Cable Express. Connects Pakistan through East Africa to France. Landed in Mombasa 2022.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
DARE1
36 Tbps
Owner
Djibouti Telecom / Somtel consortium
Djibouti Africa Regional Express. Connects Djibouti to Mombasa via Mogadishu and Bosaso.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
SAT-3/WASC
0.34 Tbps
Owner
Telkom SA / consortium
First-generation West African cable (2001). Europe to South Africa via West Coast. Consortium of national telecoms operators.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
WACS
14.5 Tbps
Owner
MTN / Vodacom / Telkom consortium
West Africa Cable System (2012). Europe to South Africa. Consortium of African and European telecoms.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
ACE
5.1 Tbps
Owner
Orange / consortium
Africa Coast to Europe (2012). France to South Africa along West African coast. 20+ landing points.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
MainOne
10 Tbps
Owner
Equinix (acquired from MainStreet Technologies)
West Africa. Portugal to Lagos to Accra. Originally Nigerian-owned; acquired by Equinix in 2022.
○ Landing licence fees only (undisclosed)
Landing States
These states have cables landing in their territorial seas. Under existing international law they possess the sovereign authority to impose fiscal charges — but none currently collects a capacity-linked levy.
Kenya
Landing state · 8 cables at Mombasa
Primary East African hub. TEAMS, EASSy, LION2, SEACOM, DARE1, PEACE, 2Africa, Equiano. Communications Authority issues landing licences; fee structures undisclosed.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
Nigeria
Landing state · 7+ cables at Lagos
West African hub. 2Africa, Equiano, MainOne, ACE, WACS, SAT-3. Data Protection Act 2023 addresses data sovereignty but not cable fiscal governance.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
South Africa
Landing state · 8+ cables
Cape Town, Durban, Mtunzini. 2Africa, Equiano, SAFE, SAT-3, WACS, EASSy, SEACOM. May 2024 damage off KwaZulu-Natal cascaded across East Africa.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
Egypt
Landing state · 10+ cables
Critical Mediterranean–Red Sea chokepoint. 2Africa, EIG, AAE-1, PEACE, FLAG. Strategic but no cable-specific fiscal regime.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
Djibouti
Landing state · 6+ cables
Red Sea/Gulf of Aden position. DARE1, EASSy, SEACOM, AAE-1, PEACE.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
Tanzania
Landing state · 5+ cables at Dar es Salaam
Secondary East African gateway. EASSy, SEACOM, 2Africa. Disrupted during May 2024 outage.
✗ No public capacity-linked levy
Transit States (Cables in EEZ, No Landing)
Cables pass through their exclusive economic zones without landing. Under UNCLOS, they have no legal basis to impose any charge.
Mozambique
Transit state
2Africa, EASSy, SEACOM transit the Mozambique Channel.
✗ No legal basis under UNCLOS
Somalia
Transit state
Extensive Horn of Africa EEZ. Multiple cables transit without landing.
✗ No legal basis under UNCLOS
Madagascar
Transit state
Large EEZ with cable transit. LION2, 2Africa.
✗ No legal basis under UNCLOS
Comoros
Transit state
Small island state in the Mozambique Channel. Cables pass through with no fiscal recognition.
✗ No legal basis under UNCLOS
Landlocked States (Doubly Excluded)
No maritime territory, no landing rights. Their populations' data travels through cables generating zero fiscal return.
Uganda
Landlocked · ~1,170 km from Mombasa
Dependent on Mombasa hub. Severely disrupted in May 2024 outage. Zero fiscal claim on cable infrastructure.
✗ No maritime territory
Rwanda
Landlocked
Dependent on Kenya/Tanzania. Internet disrupted in May 2024.
✗ No maritime territory
DR Congo
Effectively landlocked for cable purposes
Narrow Atlantic coast but no major cable landings. Connectivity depends on East African hub.
✗ No cable fiscal framework
Zambia
Landlocked
Routes through South Africa and East Africa.
✗ No maritime territory
Zimbabwe
Landlocked
Routes through Mozambique and South Africa.
✗ No maritime territory
Malawi
Landlocked
Dependent on Mozambican and Tanzanian routes.
✗ No maritime territory