• Sonatel has activated the 2Africa subsea cable to strengthen broadband capacity and network resilience.

• The 45,000 km system delivers up to 180 Tbps, about ten times the capacity of older cables.

• Senegal now connects to five international fiber-optic cables as digital usage rises.

Sonatel, the Orange Group subsidiary in Senegal, announced on February 20, the operational launch of the 2Africa subsea cable, marking a major expansion of the country’s international internet capacity.

Launched in 2020 as part of the operator’s international network modernization plan and brought into service in December 2025, 2Africa is designed to strengthen high-speed internet access and improve network resilience amid rising demand for digital services.

“2Africa represents a major technological leap, confirming reliability standards, as more than 95% of global internet data traffic travels through subsea cables. It will also support the deployment of fixed and mobile broadband access for hundreds of millions of people,” Sonatel said in a statement.

Spanning 45,000 kilometers and connecting 33 countries across three continents, 2Africa features 16 fiber pairs and a design capacity of 180 terabits per second — about ten times that of earlier systems. The infrastructure was built to accommodate exponential growth in internet traffic, facilitate 4G and 5G expansion, and expand broadband access across Africa and beyond.

The system is the first to directly link all African coasts from Europe, connecting Senegal’s west coast to South Africa, running up the Horn of Africa to Egypt, and extending onward to the Middle East and India.

In Senegal, Sonatel oversaw construction of the national landing station and the associated terrestrial backhaul, ensuring the reliability and resilience of international traffic.

With 2Africa, Senegal is now connected to five international fiber-optic subsea cables. Work on the Senegal branch began in 2023, adding to existing infrastructure including SAT-3 (South Atlantic 3), ACE (Africa Coast to Europe), Atlantis-2 and SHARE (Senegal Horn of Africa Regional Express).

According to Sonatel, the additional bandwidth capacity has been activated to enhance service availability and strengthen the resilience of its international network, at a time when digital adoption continues to expand. DataReportal estimates that more than 11.6 million people in Senegal were internet users at the end of 2025, representing about 60.6% of the population. The country also recorded 23.3 million mobile connections, equivalent to 122% of the population.

Samira Njoya