By 2024, Africa's operational terrestrial fiber stretched about 2. While submarine communications cables are used to connect countries and continents to the Internet, terrestrial fibre optic cables are used to extend this connectivity to landlocked countries or to urban centers within a country. Though tech giants have invested heavily in high-performance digital infrastructure — more cell towers, faster networks — Africans across the continent still grapple with sluggish internet speeds and expensive data. Tech companies such as Google and Facebook parent Meta are investing in new data. Press play or drag the slider bar to show operational fibre optic network in each year from 2009 - 2026. WIOCC's regional network comprises the national transmission backbones of its shareholders. In Africa, where vast distances and challenging geographies have long hindered infrastructure development, fiber offers a resilient and high-capacity alternative to legacy systems. Subsea cables ring the continent, bilateral agreements multiply, and tech.
