Telecom Egypt and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) have announced they have landed the Africa-1 cable at the Ras Ghareb cable landing station in Egypt.

Built and deployed by ASN, the Africa-1 cable will connect East Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

The cable spans more than 10,000km with eight fiber pairs and 11 landing points in Bejaia, Algeria; Djibouti City, Djibouti; Port Said and Ras Ghareb, Egypt; Marseille, France; Mombasa, Kenya; Karachi, Pakistan; Duba, Saudi Arabia; Berbera, Somalia; Kalba, UAE; and Al Hudaydah, Yemen.

This marks the third landing for the Africa-1 cable, having already landed in Mombasa and Karachi, in Kenya and Pakistan respectively.

Initially scheduled for completion at the end of last year, the cable is now set to be operational in 2025.

“Partnering with the Africa-1 consortium to build this transformative subsea system is a significant milestone for all parties involved, as well as for the global economy and connectivity,” said Mohamed Nasr, managing director and CEO at Telecom Egypt.

“By making additional subsea routes available in the growing markets of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, this system will boost broadband capabilities and expand our subsea network to meet the rising demand for reliable, high-speed communications, especially for bandwidth-intensive applications such as artificial intelligence.”

The Africa-1 consortium comprises Algerie Telecom, e& (Etisalat), Mobily, Pakistan Telecommunications, Telecom Egypt, TeleYemen, and ZOI.

Egypt has proven a popular location for subsea cables with more than 15 cables landing in the country. The 2Africa and Red2Med cables land in Ras Ghareb, with the SeaMeWe-6 cable set to join in 2026.

More than a dozen cables pass through the Red Sea. In recent years, in light of recent Houthi attacks on shipping lanes at the southern end of the Red Sea, telcos have mooted alternative fiber routes in the region.