All the undersea cables connecting South Africa to the rest of the world — with two more on the way

An extensive network of undersea cables connects South Africa to the rest of the world, and international tech giants Meta Platforms and Google are working on two more.

Ten undersea cables currently connect South Africa to Europe, other coastal African nations, and Asia.

While underground or subterranean cables are commonly used to connect nations on the same continent, international communications require extensive cables laid along the ocean floor between two destinations.

Google announced its plans to connect South Africa and Australia through its Umoja cable project in May 2024. Its construction follows the completion of Google’s Equiano cable connecting Africa and Europe.

The new line will run overland from Kenya through Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, where it will transition to a subsea line running across the ocean to Australia.

Google says the new infrastructure will improve coverage in Africa, which suffered in 2024 due to damaged cables.

Meta also announced Project Waterworth — an ambitious undersea cable project that will span more than 50,000km and connect five continents — in February 2025.

Once completed, Project Waterworth will be the world’s longest undersea cable, and Meta says it will be built using the highest-capacity technology available.

“Project Waterworth will bring industry-leading connectivity to the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions,” said Meta.

It said the cable will help accelerate progress in growing and investing in digital infrastructure in countries like India and South Africa, where significant progress has already been made.

It added that the high-speed capacity enabled through Project Waterworth will drive AI innovation globally.

The company hasn’t indicated an estimated completion date for Project Waterworth.

“Project Waterworth will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment to strengthen the scale and reliability of the world’s digital highways by opening three new oceanic corridors with abundant, high-speed connectivity,” said Meta.

It added that the project would advance engineering design to improve resilience and make it possible to build the most extensive 24-fibre pair cable in the world.

Meta said it will also deploy first-of-its-kind routing, enabling it to maximise cabling laid in deep water to reduce the risk of damage from anchors and other hazards.

Project Waterworth and Google’s Umoja cable will add to the 10 existing cables connecting South Africa to other continents.

The cables connecting South Africa to the rest of the world and those still in the works are listed below.

Project Waterworth — Meta Platforms

• Length: 50,000km+
• Investors: Meta Platforms
• South African landing point: To be confirmed

Umoja

• Length: Unconfirmed
• Investors: Google
• South African landing point(s): To be confirmed

2Africa — Bayobab (MTN), Meta Platforms, WIOCC

• Length: 45,000km
• Other investors: China Mobile, Meta Platforms, Orange, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, WIOCC
• South African landing point(s): Amanzimtoti – KwaZulu-Natal, Gqeberha – Eastern Cape, and Melkbosstrand and Yzerfontein – Western Cape.

Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) — Bayobab (MTN)

• Length: 17,000km
• Other investors: Benin ACE GIE, Cable Consortium of Liberia, Canalink, Dolphin Telecom, GUILAB, Gambia Submarine Cable Company, IInternational Mauritania Telecom, Orange, Orange Cameroun, Orange Cote d’Ivoire, Orange Mali, Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Gabon, Republic of Guinea Bissau, STP Cabo, Sierra Leone Cable Company, Sonatel, Zamani Telecom
• South African landing point(s): Duynefontein, Western Cape

West Africa Cable System — Bayobab (MTN), Broadband Infraco, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom SA, Vodacom

• Length: 14,530km
• Other investors: Altice Portugal, Angola Cables, Camtel, Cape Verde Telecom, Congo Telecom, Office Congolais de Poste et Télécommunication, PCCW, Tata Communications, Telecom Namibia, Togo Telecom, Vodacom DRC, Vodafone, Vodafone Espana, Vodafone Ghana
• South African landing point(s): Yzerfontein, Western Cape

SAT-3/WASC — Telkom SA

• Length: 14,350km
• Investors: AT&T, Altice Portugal, Angola Telecom, BICS, BT, Benin Telecoms, Camtel, China Telecom, Chunghwa Telecom, Cyta, Deutsche Telekom, Ghana Telecommunications Company, KPT, KT, Maroc Telecom, Mauritius Telecom, NATCOM, OPT, Orange, Orange Cote d’Ivoire, PCCW, Singtel, Sparkle, T-Mobile, Tata Communications, Telecom Namibia, Telekom Malaysia, Telstra, Telxius, Verison, Vodafone
• South African landing point(s): Melkbosstrand, Western Cape.

SAFE — Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom SA

• Length: 13,500km
• Investors: AT&T, Angola Telecom, BICS, Camtel China Telecom, Chunghwa Telecom, Ghana Telecommunications Company, KPN, KT, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Maroc Telecom, Mauritius Telecom, NATCOM, OPT, Orange, Orange Cote d’Ivoire, PCCW, Singtel, Sonatel, Sparkle, T-Mobile, Tata Communications, Telecom Namibia, Telefonica, Telekom Malaysia, Telkom South Africa, Telstra, Verizon, Vodafone
• South African landing point(s): Melkbosstrand, Western Cape, and Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal

Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy) — Bayobab (MTN), Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom SA

• Length: 10,500km
• Investors: BT, Bharti Airtel, Botswana Fibre Networks, Comores Telecom, Djibouti Telecom, Etisalat UAE, Mauritius Telecom, Orange Saudi Telecom, Sudatel, Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation, Telkom Kenya, Tlema (Telecom Malagasy), Vodacom DRC, WIOCC, Zambia Telecom
• South African landing point(s): Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal

T3 — Liquid Intelligent Technologies

• Length: 3,200km
• Investors: Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Mauritius Telecom
• South African landing point(s): Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal

Equiano

• Length: 15,000km
• Investors: Google
• South African landing point(s): Melkbosstrand, Western Cape

SEACOM/Tata EGN-Eurasia

• Length: 15,000km
• Investors: SEACOM, Tata Communications
• South African landing point(s): Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal

Meltingpot Indianoceanic Submarine System (METISS)

• Length: 3,200km
• Investors: CEB Fibernet, Canal+ Telecom, Emtel SFR, Telma (Telecom Malagasy), Zeop
• South African landing point(s): Umbogintwini, KwaZulu-Natal