Orange launched Djoliba, West Africa's first pan-African backbone, in 2020 to support the digital ecosystem and meet the growing need for connectivity in the region.

Broadband connectivity provider Angola Cables and telecom operator Orange recently signed an infrastructure-sharing agreement on the West African Djoliba backbone. The collaboration allows Angola Cables to leverage Orange's Djoliba network to strengthen its presence in French-speaking West African markets.

“Access to the West Africa Djoliba network and our robust submarine infrastructure broadens the capability of businesses to access international markets and offers expanded traffic destinations across West Africa and other parts of the world,”  said Rui Faria, Angola Cables’ global commercial director.  

The Djoliba network was unveiled in 2020 by Orange. It is the first fully secured network in West Africa with more than 10,000 km of terrestrial fiber optic network, coupled with 10,000 km of submarine cable. It gives very high-speed offers (up to 100 Gbit/s) and a 99.99% availability rate. This network covers 16 points of presence with a mesh of nearly 155 technical sites and links 300 points of presence in Europe, America, and Asia.

Thanks to the agreement with Orange, Angola Cables will combine this new capacity with its global network of international submarine cables such as WACS, SACS, MONET, and EllaLink to offer secure, low-latency connectivity, digital and cloud services to businesses in the region.

The partnership is part of the strategy launched by Angola Cables in 2020 to increase partnerships and investments to meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity, in Africa and beyond.

Samira Njoya