KENYA TO LAY UNDERSEA CABLE TO FUJAIRAH

Kenya to finance its own undersea Internet cable between United Arab Emirates and its coast in Mombasa

T he Kenyan government has approved an undersea fibre optic cable connection between the United Arab Emirates and Mombasa. The new connection could substantially boost connectivity and investments in the entire East African region.

The government of Kenyai announced that it had “approved the sourcing of an undersea fibre optic cable connection between Mombasa and Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.” The project, which is estimated to cost approximately US$80 million, would be “a joint venture between the government and the private sector,” the statement added.

The planned project is expected to meet Kenya’s needs for improved Internet connectivity. The cable network that will connect East Africa to the rest of the world could also serve Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia.

However other governments in East Africa have also signed up to a 23-nation plan to lay an undersea cable to connect the entire region, the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy). Kenya was originally part of the EASSy project, but it led a protest by several nations in the region against South African dominance in the planned network.

Many East African countries fear South Africa’s growing economic and political influence and complain of unfair trade practices by South African companies.

Against such a background, Kenya wants to be in control of its own infrastructures and to grow into being a regional hub for trade and business.

The East African coast currently has no direct links to the international fibre optic network, which is one of the main reasons why the region’s connectivity is less reliable and costly. This situation has made East Africa one of the most “digitally excluded” regions of the world with just about 2 per cent of the population connected to the Internet.