At the recent African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), Meta’s Edge Strategy Manager, Ben Ryall, noted the pressing need for stable connectivity. 

He explained how multiple simultaneous submarine and terrestrial outages earlier this year tested Africa’s internet resilience. According to him, Meta had to reroute traffic across alternative systems while maximising available bandwidth through its content delivery network (CDN) controllers.

“When multiple cuts happened, our infrastructure became constrained. We turned up additional capacity on alternative systems, but parts of our metros were temporarily disconnected. Traffic had to be served out of alternative metros, both within and outside the region,” Ryall said.

The outages revealed Africa’s heavy dependence on a limited number of undersea cables. Nigeria alone has suffered over 13,000 fibre cuts in 18 months, a sign of the fragility of terrestrial infrastructure. 

Ryall noted that Meta’s CDN controllers helped mitigate the situation by delivering traffic as locally as possible, but he admitted that extreme failures sometimes force services to be routed outside the country.

Despite these challenges, Meta is doubling down on its commitment to expand its edge presence. The company already operates more than 80 Edge Points of Presence (PoPs) across Africa, with in-network appliances at internet exchanges in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

These appliances ensure pictures, videos, and calls are delivered within the country, cutting latency from around 150 milliseconds to under 25 milliseconds, a critical improvement for real-time applications like video streaming and voice services.

Ryall revealed that Meta is not just patching existing gaps but also planning for the long term. “We plan to build a backbone-connected PoP (as32934) in 2026. This will enable us to deliver the full product family in-country. The 2Africa landing in the DRC makes this possible, alongside new metro and terrestrial fibre investments,” he said.

Africa, home to 18% of the world’s population but contributing just 4% of global GDP, faces a high digital divide. With its population projected to hit 2.1 billion by 2050, the demand for reliable internet will only accelerate. 

The expansion of subsea cables like Meta’s 2Africa, the world’s largest at 45,000 km, and new facilities such as Lagos’s LKK2 data centre signal a race to secure Africa’s digital future.

Stakeholders in the industry warn, however, that without more diversified paths and stronger terrestrial networks, the continent risks repeated disruptions, and investments in Africa’s digital infrastructure, such as those made by Meta, must be aware of this.

The tech giant’s strategy is to build redundancy, enhance local interconnections, and ensure that Africans can access the same level of digital experience as users in developed economies.

The project, expected to cost over $10 billion, will make Meta the sole owner and operator of the cable, bringing a good difference in how such networks are traditionally managed.

With this goal, Meta is securing reliable infrastructure to support its expanding digital ecosystem. With its platforms accounting for 10% of global fixed internet traffic and 22% of mobile data, the need for a dedicated data pipeline has become necessary. 

Sources close to the project reveal that while planning is well underway, physical implementation is yet to commence. Meta plans to provide further details about the route and capacity in 2025.

The cable’s envisioned route spans the globe, starting from the eastern United States to India via South Africa, and looping back to the U.S. west coast through Australia. 

This design strategically avoids politically unstable regions such as the Red Sea, the South China Sea, and the Straits of Malacca, ensuring uninterrupted service. 

Experts believe the project will be developed in phases due to the limited availability of cable-laying ships and competing demands from other tech giants like Google.

When completed, the cable will enhance Meta’s drive in the subsea cable sector, joining the ranks of Google, which has ownership stakes in numerous routes globally. 

Unlike Meta’s existing participation in consortium-led projects like the 2Africa cable, this is its first independent ownership of such a system.

Geopolitical and Business Drivers

On the Meta subsea cable project, sole ownership will grant the company priority access to data traffic capacity, enabling better quality service for its global user base. 

Added to this, as a significant portion of Meta’s revenue comes from regions outside North America, securing independent infrastructure will help simplify data delivery in these markets.

Recent incidents, such as damage to submarine cables during conflicts or accidents, have revealed the vulnerabilities of existing networks. In charting a route through safer corridors, Meta aims to mitigate such risks and ensure the reliability of its operations.

India: A Key Destination

India is a central focus of Meta’s plans, both as a major landing point for the cable and as a market with huge growth potential.

The country has the largest number of users on Meta’s platforms globally, with over 375 million Facebook users, 363 million Instagram users, and 536 million WhatsApp users. This large audience has shown keen interest in Meta’s emerging technologies, including AI tools.

Again, India’s relatively low computational costs and growing investments in data centre infrastructure make it an attractive location for future AI training hubs. 

Reports disclose that the cable could facilitate Meta’s goal to expand AI in the region, although the company has yet to confirm such plans.

Currently, across the telecommunications industry, tech giants are taking ownership of subsea infrastructure.

Historically, these networks were developed by telecom consortiums, but companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft are now focused on these to meet their specific needs.