Repeated Internet Outages Push Orange Into New Africa-Europe Cable Plan
Africa’s digital economy is entering a new infrastructure race, and the Orange Via Africa subsea cable project could place Nigeria at the centre of that transformation.
French telecom company Orange and its partners are developing a 20,000-kilometre subsea cable that will connect several African countries directly to Europe through the Atlantic corridor. The project aims to improve internet reliability across Africa as demand for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, fintech services, and streaming platforms continues to grow.
The new system, called Via Africa, is expected to become one of the continent’s largest internet infrastructure projects. Nigeria is likely to serve as one of its most important landing points because of its large internet population and growing role in Africa’s digital economy.
Nigeria’s Role in Africa’s Internet Expansion
Nigeria already hosts eight submarine internet cables, more than any other country in West Africa. These include major systems like Google’s Google Equiano cable and the Meta-backed Meta 2Africa network.
Despite these investments, internet outages still happen regularly across West Africa. Cable cuts and technical faults have disrupted banking services, fintech platforms, telecom operations, and international communications in several countries over the past few years.
Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Wholesale, said cable failures remain a global problem.
“Every two days somewhere in the world you have a cable cut or failure,” he said during an interview with TechCabal.
The Via Africa system aims to reduce those risks by creating an alternative route between Africa and Europe. Orange says the project will help avoid “single points of failure” that can cause major internet disruptions when existing cables are damaged.
Why the Via Africa Cable Matters
The Orange Via Africa subsea cable project arrives at a time when African economies are becoming more digital. Banks, fintech startups, AI companies, cloud providers, streaming platforms, and government services now depend heavily on stable internet infrastructure.
Industry experts say Africa’s next phase of digital growth will depend on stronger infrastructure that can support data-heavy technologies such as AI systems, cloud services, online payments, and video streaming.
Orange says the cable may connect countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mauritania, with possible expansion further south toward South Africa.
The company believes the project could also attract more hyperscalers and global cloud companies looking to expand in Africa.
“We see hyperscalers investing more and more in Africa,” Trabbia said. “This cable may attract hyperscalers because it is one of the very big and important infrastructure projects to connect Africa.”
Competition for Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Is Growing
Global technology companies are investing billions of dollars into Africa’s digital infrastructure market. The continent has become one of the fastest-growing internet regions in the world.
The 45,000-kilometre 2Africa cable remains the world’s largest submarine cable system, while Google’s Equiano cable significantly increased internet capacity between Europe and West Africa after landing in Nigeria.
According to telecom research company TeleGeography, Africa currently has 77 active or planned subsea cable systems. However, most international internet bandwidth remains concentrated in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Kenya.
Orange and its partners say Via Africa will operate through a consortium model that allows telecom operators to co-invest in the project and participate in governance decisions.
Current partners include Canalink, GUILAB, International Mauritania Telecom, Orange Côte d’Ivoire, Sonatel, and Silverlinks.
Orange Expands Africa Digital Skills Training
The Via Africa cable project was officially unveiled during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. The event was attended by African leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron, and business executives.
At the summit, Orange also announced plans to train more than three million young Africans in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and digital entrepreneurship by 2030.
Construction timelines for the subsea cable have not been finalised yet. Orange estimates the project could take between three and four years to complete after route studies and consortium agreements are concluded.
The company also said the cable will include additional protection systems designed to reduce damage from ship anchors and marine activity, which remain among the biggest causes of subsea cable failures worldwide.
