The Nigeria-based Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has agreed to fund $66 million of the $240 million Main-One undersea cable.
The 7 000km project is expected to run from Portugal to Nigeria, landing in the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana. According to the AFC's statement, the cable will have 1.92Tbps of capacity, a boon for West Africa, which is still bound to the services of SAT 3.
The project is one of several new connections boosting international capacity around Africa. Competitor Seacom has been completed and is hoping to provide commercial services by the end of the month.
Much like Seacom, Main-One is an open access cable system, so any company can purchase access to the cable and provide international capacity on its own network. The landing licences for Nigeria and Ghana were awarded to the owners in December last year.
The cable is in its first phase of development, connecting Portugal to Nigeria and Ghana. The second phase will begin in August this year and will include the landings in various countries along the West Coast.
“This investment comes at an opportune time to unlock the constrained West African telecommunications market and catalyse the economic potential of the region. A compelling opportunity exists to lower the restrictive cost of international telecommunications and significantly expand Internet access via submarine cable, which will lead to greater efficiency and more competitive business,” Main-One explains in a statement.
SA is expected to be connected to the West African project, although it is unclear when it will be included.
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