Djibouti Telecom landed the 2Africa submarine cable in Djibouti on 13th May 2022. The 2Africa cable system will be terminated at Djibouti Telecom's new cable landing station.

An important ceremony was organized for this purpose at the beach Siesta under the patronage of the Minister of Communication in charge of Posts and Telecommunications, Mr. Radwan Abdillahi Bahdon and in the presence of Djibouti Telecom representatives. This ceremony also saw the attendance of several representatives from the Smart Africa Alliance staying in Djitouti as part of a seminar on the Cloud co-organized with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Innovation.

2Africa Cable Lands in Djibouti
2Africa Cable Lands in Djibouti, Source: Djibouti Telecom

 

Led by Facebook, the 2Africa consortium is composed of several players including the American giant Facebook and other operators like China Mobile International, MTN Global Connect, Orange, Vodafone, Egypt Telecom, STC (Saudi Telecom Company), WIOCC. The 2Africa cable links three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe, spanning over 45,000 kilometers, making it the longest fiber optic submarine cable in the world.

2Africa cable map
2Africa cable map,  Source: 2Africa Consortium

 

The 2Africa cable has arrived in Djibouti after many months of this huge submarine network being laid. Prior to Djibouti, the 2Africa cable had its first landing in Italy in mid April.

2Afirca is the 9th cable landing in Djibouti. Djibouti Telecom believe that the undersea fiber optic network is the most reliable way for people to be connected, given the increasing dependence on the Internet. To meet this growing demand, the company entered into an agreement with Facebook to land the 2Africa cable in Djibouti.

Djibouti Telecom has now two international submarine cable landing stations, the YAC A Cable Landing Station (YAC A CLS) and the Haramous Cable Landing Station (Haramous CLS), and is building a new Cable Landing Station in Djibouti City. The new Cable Landing Station will be a neutral digital port which will provide an open access cable landing service to submarine cable operators for a neutral, safe and secure landing in Djibouti City. The new state-of-the-art building will consist of 3 floors with each floor having a 250 square meter equipment room designed with the latest technology offering unparalleled operating efficiency and security to host multiple cables.

Djibouti Telecom plans to host the 2Africa cable system in the new Cable Landing Station.

New Cable Landing Station in Djibouti City
New Cable Landing Station in Djibouti City, Source: Djibouti Telecom

 

Following 2Africa, there are another 5 new submarine cable systems to land in Djibouti, including PEACE, Africa-1, SMW6, IEX, Google's Blue-Raman cable