2Africa

node · earth · Africa, Europe and Asia

The cable system that encircles Africa, led by Meta with a consortium of regional and international operators, and — on the figures published at its completion — the longest submarine cable system yet built. Meta announced the completion of the core system on 17 November 2025; with the Pearls extension from the Horn of Africa to South Asia and around the Persian Gulf due in 2026, the full system length is given as about 45,000 km, longer than the circumference of the Earth, landing in 33 countries across three continents. Two features belong in this Journey. It is an open-access system, meaning capacity is sold to operators rather than reserved to its builders, which matters in markets where a single incumbent controlling the only international cable has been a structural constraint on prices. And its construction has been shaped by conflict: planned landings on the Red Sea coast — for 2Africa and for other systems — have been delayed by the security situation off Yemen, which is a plain demonstration that where a cable can go is decided by politics and not only by bathymetry.