Orange, a global telecommunications operator, is backing Via Africa, a new 20,000-kilometre subsea cable project announced on May 12, 2026, during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. The consortium-led initiative will connect Nigeria and nearly 20 other countries across Africa and Europe, positioning it among the longest subsea cable systems serving the continent. Nigeria, one of Africa's largest internet and data markets, currently hosts eight submarine cables—the highest in West Africa—but continues to face persistent fiber cuts, vandalism, and network congestion as internet usage and data traffic surge nationwide. The project addresses critical infrastructure vulnerabilities: more than half of Africa's international bandwidth flows through just five countries (Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Kenya), creating uneven digital distribution across the continent. Recent years have seen multiple cable faults along the West African coast simultaneously disrupt internet services across several countries, slowing banking platforms, fintech services, enterprise operations, and international connectivity. Via Africa aims to reduce these risks by introducing new and more diverse routes rather than relying on existing pathways, ensuring connectivity even if one or two cables are damaged or go offline.
Project Scope and Landing Points
Via Africa will span more than 20,000 kilometres across the Atlantic, connecting West Africa directly to Europe via an Atlantic corridor route—unlike several existing cable systems that pass through Mediterranean routes. Confirmed landing points include Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Mauritania, with additional landing points expected to be added as more consortium members join. The project remains open to additional partners, with final landing points and participating countries expected to evolve as more operators join the consortium, according to Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Wholesale. For context, Meta's 2Africa remains the world's longest submarine cable at 45,000 kilometres, while Africa has 77 active or planned subsea cable systems as of 2025, according to TeleGeography.
Why New Infrastructure Is Needed
Africa's existing subsea cable infrastructure faces significant vulnerabilities. "Every two days somewhere in the world you have a cable cut or failure," Trabbia told TechCabal. "You need different routes to make sure that when you have one or two cable cuts, you still have connectivity." Older subsea cables are becoming less efficient as newer systems can carry significantly more traffic with improved technologies. "One cable lifetime is around 20 to 25 years," Trabbia said. "Beyond 10 years old, cables become much more minor contributors to overall traffic because the new cables are much more efficient."
Technical Design and Protection
Via Africa will incorporate newer protection technologies designed to reduce damage from ship anchors and other marine activities that frequently affect subsea systems. Modern subsea cables are increasingly buried in areas up to 2,000 metres deep and reinforced with additional physical protection layers to minimise defects and outages. The infrastructure is being designed to accommodate long-term growth in internet demand across Africa. Although Orange has not publicly disclosed the final capacity of the cable, the system is expected to terminate in major data centres, potentially attracting large-scale data centres and cloud providers looking to expand digital infrastructure investments across Africa. "We see hyperscalers investing more and more in Africa," Trabbia said. "This cable may attract hyperscalers because it is one of the very big and important infrastructure projects to connect Africa."
Timeline and Construction
Construction timelines have not been finalised, but Orange estimates the project could take between three and four years to complete once consortium arrangements are fully concluded.
Orange's Broader Digital Expansion in Africa
Via Africa is part of a broader Orange expansion announced at the Africa Forward Summit. The company plans to train more than three million young people in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and digital entrepreneurship by 2030. Orange also announced plans to expand its network of Orange Digital Centres from 50 to 100 across Africa and the Middle East while supporting more than 500 additional startups in sectors including healthcare, agriculture, fintech, education, and e-commerce. "We need this cable to achieve the digital ambition of the continent," Trabbia said. "All of this will only be possible if we have the right infrastructure within Africa."
