Angola Cables, Camtel partner for cross-border connectivity

ICT solutions provider Angola Cables and Camtel, Cameroon's incumbent telecommunications operator, have partnered to expand digital and connectivity services in Cameroon and the West Africa region.

The agreement comes after the two firms expressed their intent to develop business opportunities in West Africa to boost redundancy, network resilience and the quality of services (QoS) both nationally and internationally.

In a statement, the companies said that by combining Angola Cables' backhaul network – which encompasses connections with subsea cable systems like the West Africa Cable System (WACS), the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) and Monet – with Camtel's connection to the South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL), the companies will be able to provide expanded capacity offerings to enterprise customers with better traffic access to both local and regional networks.

"The agreement signifies an important step in advancing telecoms and digital connectivity in Africa. For users, it will help to secure connectivity, trade, boost economies and help expand as well as grow businesses across the region," said Fernando Fernandes, country manager at TelCables Nigeria, a subsidiary of Angola Cables.

"Our strategic intent is to build on the robust backhaul connectivity of the Angola Cables network, and the existing interconnections we have in place with other submarine cables connecting the region and the world, to provide flexible and secure value-added services for our clients and businesses," Camtel CEO Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi added.

Expanding connectivity across Africa

Angola Cables launched the TelCables business in West Africa in November 2022, and Sudhir Juggernath was appointed CEO for the Southern and East African regions in September 2023. In a video interview with Connecting Africa, he highlighted the company's plans to expand.

Angola Cables and Camtel had previously declared their intent to develop business opportunities in the region, with stated goals of improving redundancy, network resilience and quality of service (QoS) both nationally and internationally. (Source: Image by www.slon.pics on Freepik)

Angola Cables' expansion plans were further highlighted when, in March 2024, TelCables South Africa opened a new point of presence (PoP) at the Teraco Riverhorse DB1 data center facility in Durban, South Africa.

Camtel, on the other hand, owns and operates resilient networks including national backbone fiber connectivity with the CEMAC region, which encompasses countries such as Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.

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These networks also include multiple submarine cables such as WACS, South Atlantic-3 (Sat-3), SAIL, and the Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS), which lands at three stations with gateways. They also comprise a Tier 3 designed data center in Yaounde – Zamengoe – and three satellite ground stations.

The WACS cable system was repaired earlier this month after being damaged in March, when a suspected subsea seismic event occurred off the coast of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, on the west coast of Africa, impacting the continent's Internet services.

*Top image is of Angola Cables' network. (Source: Angola Cables.)

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa