Safaricom PLC has entered into a landmark partnership with Meta Platforms, through its subsidiary Edge Network Services Limited, to land a new high-capacity submarine cable in Kenya, connecting the country directly with Oman.
The agreement positions Safaricom as Meta’s official landing partner for the undersea cable — marking a significant step in strengthening Kenya’s global connectivity infrastructure and reinforcing Safaricom’s evolution from a telecommunications provider to a fully-fledged technology company.
“This deal is a significant strategic milestone for us at Safaricom as we mark 25 years and signals our readiness to transition into a fully-fledged tech company in line with our Vision 2030 strategy,” said Dr Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom. “It positions us to meet the surging demand for high-capacity, low-latency connectivity which is critical for powering economic growth, cloud adoption, and digital innovation.”
Transforming Kenya’s Connectivity Landscape
The new submarine cable, fully funded by Meta’s Edge Network Services, is expected to dramatically expand international bandwidth capacity, lower latency, and improve internet reliability across Kenya and the East African region.
Safaricom’s role as the landing partner means the company will host the Kenyan cable landing station and manage related in-country infrastructure, including power, security, and terrestrial links connecting the undersea system to Kenya’s core data networks.
According to the agreement, locally licensed operators in Kenya and Oman will manage cable operations within their respective territorial waters. This ensures compliance with local regulations while keeping key infrastructure under national oversight.
The project underscores a growing trend among global tech companies to deepen their investments in Africa’s connectivity backbone, ensuring stable, high-speed links to support the continent’s fast-growing digital economies.
Meta’s Expanding Footprint in Africa
This marks Meta’s second major undersea cable investment in Kenya, following its involvement in the 2Africa cable project, one of the world’s largest submarine cable systems.
The new Oman–Kenya cable adds redundancy and resilience to the region’s digital infrastructure, diversifying international traffic routes and reducing dependency on existing systems.
It also aligns with Meta’s ongoing effort to build the Metaverse infrastructure layer in Africa by supporting faster, more affordable data transfer between continents.
Safaricom’s Tech Ambitions Take Shape
For Safaricom, this partnership builds on a series of strategic moves to broaden its technology portfolio, including 5G rollout, cloud services, digital financial ecosystems, and smart infrastructure initiatives.
The deal comes as the telco celebrates its 25th anniversary, a milestone marked by major partnerships with global technology players and increased investments in data capacity and next-generation connectivity.
Safaricom’s Vision 2030 Strategy aims to transform the company into Africa’s leading purpose-led technology enterprise, with digital inclusion, innovation, and sustainability as its core pillars.
Driving Economic Growth Through Connectivity
By improving data transmission speeds and reliability, the new Meta cable will unlock opportunities in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, fintech, remote work, and digital services — sectors increasingly dependent on robust internet infrastructure.
Industry analysts note that Kenya’s growing reputation as East Africa’s digital hub makes it a natural landing point for such high-capacity links, and the collaboration between Meta and Safaricom cements the country’s position in the global internet map.
The new cable is expected to go live within the next 24–30 months, pending regulatory and technical approvals.
