• Ethio, Djibouti, Sudatel sign deal for regional fibre corridor

• Project links Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan via resilient terrestrial fibre

• Initiative boosts capacity, reduces outage risks, supports data growth

Incumbent operators Ethio Telecom, Djibouti Telecom and Sudatel Group signed a tripartite partnership agreement on Wednesday, Feb. 4, aimed at interconnecting their networks via fiber optics. The agreement formalizes a memorandum of understanding concluded in December 2024 and paves the way for a new regional connectivity corridor.

The project involves the construction of a highly resilient terrestrial fiber-optic corridor linking international submarine cable landing stations in Djibouti, crossing Ethiopia, and extending to landing stations in Sudan. The infrastructure is designed to deliver multi-terabit capacity to absorb rapid traffic growth. It will provide carrier-grade international connectivity with low latency suited to cloud services and hyperscale infrastructures, alongside multiple secure cross-border routes to strengthen regional resilience. It is also expected to improve service reliability for operators, businesses, content providers and hyperscalers.

“The Horizon Fiber initiative aims to significantly strengthen international bandwidth capacity, improve network resilience and redundancy, and meet growing demand for data, cloud services, hyperscale connectivity, digital platforms and cross-border data flows in the region,” Ethio Telecom said.

According to the partners, the project comes as Africa’s digital economy accelerates, driven by the adoption of cloud services, fintech, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, content distribution and corporate digitalisation. This trend requires the deployment of digital infrastructure robust enough to support the expected surge in data volumes.

According to estimates from Swedish technology company Ericsson, total mobile data traffic across all networks in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase from 2.3 exabytes per month in 2024 to 11 exabytes per month by 2030, representing an average annual growth rate of 29%, the highest globally. Monthly data consumption per active smartphone is also expected to reach 14 gigabytes by 2030, up from 5 gigabytes in 2024.

The initiative also comes as international submarine cables face a growing number of incidents, linked to ship anchors, infrastructure degradation, potential sabotage, natural disasters or conflicts. These disruptions result in service outages and high repair costs. The most recent major outages in the region occurred in March and May 2024, underscoring the strategic value of alternative and resilient terrestrial routes.

Ethiopia: reducing digital isolation

For Ethiopia, the partnership is of particular strategic importance. As a landlocked country, it relies on cross-border interconnections to access international internet connectivity. The initiative aligns with a broader strategy by authorities and sector players to reduce the country’s digital isolation.

In a study published in October 2025, digital infrastructure company Wingu said Ethiopia had around 22,000 kilometres of fibre-optic networks covering the country in 2025, with cross-border links connecting to submarine cables mainly via Djibouti, home to several landing stations on the Red Sea coast. Despite this progress, Ethiopia’s median fixed broadband speed, estimated at 9 Mbps, remains well below that of regional leaders such as Rwanda and South Africa, where mobile speeds exceed 40 Mbps.

In this context, Wingu notes that the Horizon Fiber initiative goes beyond a simple capacity upgrade, reshaping Ethiopia’s connectivity architecture by offering alternative routes to submarine cables. The company also notes that Ethiopia and Kenya committed in June 2025 to finalise their fibre-optic interconnection. Kenya is currently connected to seven submarine cables, with two more expected to enter service in 2026, according to the Submarine Cable Map platform. Djibouti has eight cables, with four additional projects planned for 2026, while Sudan has five.

“For landlocked nations, true connectivity resilience relies not only on individual infrastructure investments but also on strategic regional cooperation. By creating mesh networks with multiple pathways, traffic can reroute automatically during disruptions, ensuring continuity and reducing dependence on any single corridor,” the study said.

Isaac K. Kassouwi