(Ecofin Agency) - Orange unveiled Djoliba, its West African backbone, in 2020. This backbone should help the telecom group to support the digital ecosystem and meet the growing connectivity needs in the region. 

Fiber optic infrastructure operator Angola Cables will leverage Djoliba, Orange's backbone in West Africa, to strengthen its presence in Francophone markets in the sub-region. The two parties recently signed an infrastructure-sharing agreement to that effect.

Djoliba consists of more than 10,000 km of terrestrial network coupled with 10,000 km of submarine cable and offers a capacity of up to 100 Gbps, with 99.99% availability. This will enable Angola Cables to offer secure, low-latency connectivity, digital and cloud services to businesses in the region. The company will combine this new capacity with its global network of international submarine cables such as WACS, SACS, MONET, and EllaLink.

“Access to the West Africa Djoliba network and our robust submarine infrastructure broadens the capability of businesses to access international markets and offers expanded traffic destinations across West Africa and other parts of the world,” said Rui Faria, the global commercial director for Angola Cables.

Since 2020, Angola Cables has been investing to meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity in Africa and beyond.  In Africa, it signed partnership agreements with CSquared Ghana and Cabo Verde Telecom to expand its presence. It also invested to strengthen its network in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi