In Africa, mobile banking, e-commerce, telemedicine, and online education are reshaping daily life as technology becomes more deeply integrated into national economies. However, despite the swift uptake of digital services, connectivity gaps and limited bandwidth still hinder both consumers and enterprises. With demand for fast and reliable internet surging, sustained infrastructure investments have become essential to power the continent’s rapidly expanding digital ecosystem.
The Imperative for Upgraded Infrastructure
Enhancing connectivity is not merely a technical challenge; it is also a critical economic and social imperative. According to the World Bank, a 10% increase in broadband penetration can raise GDP growth by up to 1.38% in developing economies as high-capacity, resilient connections enable businesses to scale, stimulate innovation, and unlock new opportunities for communities across Africa.
Global internet bandwidth increased by 23% in 2025, maintaining its consistent pace of steady growth. Total international bandwidth now stands at 1,835 Tbps, representing a four-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%. Africa led the way, with internet bandwidth expanding at a compound annual rate of 38% between 2021 and 2025.
While mobile internet penetration continues to grow, international bandwidth remains a major constraint in many regions. Submarine cables are vital for fast, stable, and cost-efficient connectivity, yet, Africa’s subsea capacity has historically been limited, both in terms of volume and network redundancy. These limitations drive up latency, undermine service reliability, and increase internet costs, particularly for data-heavy services such as cloud computing, video streaming, and real-time financial transactions.
Financial services platforms, for instance, which handle millions of transactions daily, rely on stable international connections to provide real-time updates. Likewise, e-learning and telemedicine platforms depend on low-latency links to operate effectively across the continent. Without sufficient infrastructure, these services risk congestion that could slow growth and hinder adoption.
To address this challenge, global technology firms and international consortia are investing heavily in subsea cable projects designed to deliver greater capacity and enhanced reliability to African markets.
Transforming Africa’s Digital Landscape
One of the most ambitious initiatives to date is Project Waterworth, a record-breaking subsea cable project designed to dramatically expand international connectivity. Spanning over 50,000 kilometers, the cable will link multiple continents, including key landing points in South Africa, the United States, India, and Brazil, providing Africa with direct access to some of the world’s largest digital hubs, diversifying routing and ensuring uninterrupted service, even in the event of localized disruptions.
The cable will deploy 24 fiber pairs, each capable of handling enormous volumes of data. This configuration positions Waterworth to accommodate future demand for high-bandwidth services, including AI workloads, immersive media, and large-scale cloud applications. In addition, advanced burial techniques will protect shallow-water segments from potential damage caused by shipping or natural events, further enhancing reliability.
For African countries, the arrival of Waterworth represents a major step forward in bridging connectivity gaps. South Africa, already a regional hub for submarine cables, will gain additional capacity, supporting both domestic and regional traffic. This will benefit not only end users but also regional operators, who can leverage the new infrastructure to deliver more affordable and robust services.
The impact extends beyond raw capacity. Enhanced connectivity enables digital services to scale, facilitates cross-border trade, and creates opportunities for startups to compete globally.
Economic and Strategic Implications
Aside from Waterworth, Africa’s subsea cable expansion is already translating into measurable economic and network effects. Wholesale international bandwidth prices in key landing markets such as Lagos, Mombasa, and Cape Town have fallen by roughly 30–60% over the past decade, driven by new systems like Equiano, 2Africa, PEACE, and SEACOM.
These new routes have also reduced round-trip latency to Europe and the Middle East by 20–40 milliseconds, a threshold that meaningfully improves performance for fintech platforms, cloud applications, and real-time collaboration tools. This clustering also reduces transit costs, improves resilience through route diversity, and allows governments to anchor data residency, IXPs, and national fiber backbones around cable hubs, ensuring that new bandwidth fuels local digital economies. By owning and operating these assets, companies can ensure the reliability, speed, and security of data flows.
For governments and regulators, this underscores the need to balance private investment with public interest. Open access policies, fair pricing models, and strong regulatory frameworks will be key to maximizing benefits for African economies.
Strategically, additional subsea routes diversify connectivity, reduce dependence on single points of failure, and strengthen national and regional digital resilience.
The full benefits will also depend on how local operators integrate the new capacity into national and regional networks. Without equitable access and competitive pricing, improvements in infrastructure may not translate into widespread affordability or accessibility. Close collaboration between governments, operators, and investors will be critical to ensure that African citizens truly reap the rewards.
A Turning Point for Africa’s Digital Future
As Africa advances its digital transformation, high-capacity international infrastructure is more important than ever. Strategic investments in subsea and broadband networks can propel the continent into a new era of connectivity. By combining scale, technological innovation, and long-term planning, such infrastructure has the potential to accelerate economic growth, promote digital inclusion, and strengthen Africa’s role in the global digital economy.
The true impact of these developments is measured not just in terabits per second or kilometers of fiber, but in the opportunities they create, from startups accessing global markets to remote communities gaining access to essential services.
By connecting Africa more seamlessly to the rest of the world, these initiatives lay the foundation for the continent’s next chapter of digital growth and innovation.
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