Meta Completes Core of 2Africa Subsea Cable
Meta Completes Core of 2Africa Subsea Cable
By Dan Swinhoe, DataCenterDynamics
November 19, 2025
Meta has completed the majority of its massive 2Africa subsea cable.
“We’re excited to share the completion of the core 2Africa infrastructure, the world’s longest open access subsea cable system,” the company said this week. “This project is the result of years of collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision to connect communities, accelerate economic growth, and enable transformative digital experiences across Africa and beyond.”
The 16-fiber-pair system offers 180Tbps of capacity. At 45,000km (45,000 miles), it is currently the world’s largest subsea cable network.
The cable links 33 countries, running from the UK south along the west coast of Africa to South Africa, and back north on Africa’s east coast up to Djibouti and the Gulf, as well as from Spain to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
At 45,000km, it is the world’s largest subsea cable network and will connect 33 countries with 46 landing points in Europe and Asia.
First announced in 2020, the consortium behind the cable comprises eight partners: China Mobile International, Baobab, center3, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC.
The laying of the East African portion started in late 2022 and landings on the west portion of the cable began in August 2023.
An extension to the original 2Africa cable, known as 2Africa Pearls, was announced in 2021, with plans for further landing points in Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, India, and Saudi Arabia. The Pearls extension into the Middle East and India is scheduled to go live in 2026.
As noted by Bloomberg, however, planned landings in the Red Sea for both 2Africa and Google’s Blue-Raman cables have been delayed do to ongoing risks off the coasts of Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have made it difficult for ship operators in the Red Sea, one of the main arteries for global shipping and subsea cables connecting Europe to Asia. 2Africa is yet to land in Sudan and on the west coast of Saudi Arabia as a result.
Meta is planning an even more ambitious cable system that is set to connect five continents. The 50,000km (31,070 mi) Project Waterworth is expected to be the world’s longest 24-fiber-pair submarine cable, connecting the US, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other regions.
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