The Amilcar Cabral submarine cable is set to revolutionize the telecommunications landscape in six West African countries. Named after Amilcar Lopes da Costa Cabral, a hero of the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, this high-speed infrastructure was originally intended to connect just Guinea and Cape Verde. But now, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have all joined in, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed to formalize the project’s development.

The Ministers of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the Digital Economy from these six countries recently gathered to sign the memorandum of understanding with the ECOWAS Commission. The signing took place at the second meeting of the steering committee of the project. The agreement commits each of the six states to evaluate the project’s technical, economic, financial, social, and environmental feasibility, as well as mobilizing the necessary resources for its implementation.

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The ECOWAS Commission, in turn, will be responsible for coordinating the project’s implementation by interacting with beneficiary countries, donors, and other stakeholders. To ensure that the project moves forward smoothly, a Ministerial Steering Committee and a Committee of Experts have been established.

The Amilcar Cabral submarine cable development project had its roots in October 2018 when Guinea and Cape Verde signed a memorandum of understanding to interconnect with an optical fiber submarine cable called “Cable Amilcar Cabral.” Their original plan was to partner with Sierra Leone, Mauritania, and neighboring countries on the West African coast for the project’s implementation.

The first meeting of the steering committee for the Amilcar Cabral telecommunications submarine cable development project was held in December 2022. The project stems from the implementation of Articles 32 and 33 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, which underpins the region’s commitment to ICT to achieve its integration ambitions. The initiative is part of axis 2 of the ECOWAS ICT strategy, which targets the development and access to infrastructure.

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Jacob Jusu Saffa, Chief Minister and Coordinator of Government Activities in Sierra Leone, believes that the Amilcar Cabral cable will “not only provide a back link for our existing unique submarine cables, but will also help increase broadband penetration in member countries and promote regional integration through digital communications and e-commerce facilities, thereby facilitating the creation of a single digital market in the ECOWAS region.”

With a budget of approximately USD 44 million, the Amilcar Cabral submarine cable is set to bring much-needed high-speed connectivity to millions of people in West Africa. Its success will not only boost the region’s digital infrastructure but also promote greater integration and economic growth. The project marks an important milestone for the region, and its success will have a transformative impact on the lives of millions.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard