• Cameroon finalizes MoU to join Medusa Africa submarine cable project

• Medusa to boost connectivity with Europe, Africa, Asia; operational by 2028

• Project aims to attract tech giants, expand data capacity, and spur digital growth
  

Cameroon is moving forward with its plan to connect to the Medusa Africa submarine cable project, a next-generation infrastructure expected to significantly improve the country’s international connectivity.

The memorandum of understanding has been finalized and sent to the Presidency for approval, marking the first step before the state formally commits to the project. The Cameroonian segment of the cable is estimated to cost 32.8 billion CFA francs (about $58.6 million) for construction and operation.

Medusa Africa is the West African branch of the planned Medusa Mediterranean system led by AFR-IX Telecom Group, a Barcelona-based operator already active in Cameroon through a local subsidiary. The EU-financed infrastructure is expected to be operational in 2028. It will connect Southern Europe with the Maghreb and Africa’s Atlantic coast, with planned landing points in Dakar, Abidjan, Accra, Lagos, Kribi, Libreville, Luanda and Cape Town. Once connected, Cameroon will have five international systems, adding Medusa to SAIL, WACS, SAT-3 and the Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS).

Equipped with 24 fiber pairs per segment and a capacity of 10 to 18 terabits per second per pair, Medusa is designed as an open, independent cable system built to support Cameroon’s digital growth for at least 25 years. For Cameroon, it is viewed as a key replacement option for the aging SAT-3 cable, whose maintenance and capacity limitations are becoming increasingly costly. Unlike SAT-3, which is unidirectional, Medusa offers multidirectional connectivity to Europe, North Africa, Southern Africa and, through further interconnections, Southeast Asia, a source said.

Strategic Positioning

This development enhances Cameroon’s ability to attract major global digital platforms such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Apple, which are seeking new landing points for their cloud infrastructure and content delivery networks. Their presence in the country could generate direct investment, skilled jobs and a technology ecosystem built around data centers and value-added digital services.

"Unlike the CEIBA 2, NCSCS, and SAIL submarine cable systems, which simply connect two countries without a significant impact on the digital economy, MEDUSA connects Cameroon with South Africa, Europe, the Maghreb and Southeast Asia, offering strategic multidirectional connectivity," a source familiar with the matter told Business in Cameroon.

Beyond international connectivity, the infrastructure could position Cameroon as a digital hub for Central Africa. The country would gain greater international capacity, redundant routes to Europe and a competitive advantage for interconnecting its data centers with global platforms. This expansion would support the emergence of new services, such as local cloud hosting, cybersecurity solutions and content delivery platforms, while strengthening the resilience of existing networks (SAT-3, WACS, SAIL) through increased and diversified traffic flows.

According to the documents reviewed, the project would also generate fiscal benefits by creating a new tax base built around high-value digital services, similar to approaches already used in several EU countries.

Challenges Ahead

The project’s success will depend on adopting a revised business model. This model must balance a competitive cross-connect fee capable of attracting major international operators, efficient interconnection between Cameroonian data centers and global infrastructure, and the development of high-value services such as local caching and cloud gateways. If the project receives final approval, the incumbent operator will be required to optimize use of the new cable.

Camtel currently uses only 16 percent of the combined capacity of its four existing submarine cables, according to a Chamber of Accounts report published in June 2024. Usage varies widely: 6 percent on SAIL, 57 percent on WACS, 29 percent on SAT-3 and 92 percent on NCSCS. These uneven utilization levels raise questions about the region’s capacity to absorb new bandwidth as well as the operator’s commercial strategy.

To explain the situation, Camtel’s leadership cited the low rate of internet penetration in the sub-region, while earlier projections assumed rapid growth in bandwidth demand. The company also noted that 83 percent of African internet traffic is routed toward Europe, which reduces the appeal of the SAIL system and helps explain its low usage. The arrival of Medusa could redirect traffic flows and require a reconfiguration of routes and commercial offerings to fully capitalize on this new strategic asset.

Amina Malloum