Why Connecting Landlocked Africa Requires More Than Building National Fibre Networks

For Africa’s 16 landlocked developing nations, getting people online is not only a question of building networks inside the country. Their access to international internet capacity also depends on fibre routes, infrastructure and commercial arrangements that cross neighbouring countries before reaching a submarine cable landing point. 

The gap is visible in the latest data. The ITU estimates that only 25% of people across Africa’s 16 landlocked developing countries  were using the internet in 2024, compared with 68% globally. Mobile broadband coverage is much higher, however, with 86% of the population covered by a mobile broadband signal, pointing to a gap between network availability and actual internet use. The ITU identifies affordability and insufficient international connectivity infrastructure among the factors holding adoption back.  

That makes the geography of connectivity important. Landlocked countries cannot connect directly to submarine cables, so they depend on terrestrial networks running through neighbouring countries to reach international capacity. For markets such as the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan, the resilience and cost of those cross-border routes can therefore affect the quality and affordability of connectivity at home.  

This means the next connectivity challenge is not simply extending fibre within national borders. It is building reliable, affordable and alternative routes between inland markets and the international networks that carry their traffic. 

In this #TechTalkThursday, we examine why landlocked Africa remains dependent on regional connectivity infrastructure, what cross-border fibre projects are changing, and whether greater redundancy can reduce the cost and vulnerability of reaching the global internet. 

The international connectivity gap starts at the coast 

For a coastal country, access to international capacity can begin where a submarine cable reaches land. Landlocked countries have to add another layer: terrestrial infrastructure connecting them to those landing points through neighbouring countries. 

The ITU’s analysis of Central Africa makes the dependency particularly clear. The six CEMAC countries are developing the Central African Backbone (CAB) to interconnect their national fibre networks, with the project backed by about $273 million from member states and development partners. The network is intended to cover roughly 3 million square kilometres and achieve 99.99% availability. 

But having a regional fibre backbone does not automatically solve the international connectivity problem. CEMAC countries still rely on international consortia and foreign operators for submarine cable access, with the ITU identifying high capacity-leasing costs, limited pricing transparency and concentration of access among cable owners as continuing constraints. 

For landlocked markets such as the Central African Republic and Chad, therefore, the resilience of the domestic network is only one part of the equation. The route beyond the border and the terms on which international capacity can be accessed can determine how much connectivity ultimately costs. 

More fibre is not enough if inland markets still depend on a single route  

The infrastructure challenge becomes clearer when looking at how inland markets are being connected to the coast. 

In February 2026, Paratus activated a 2,000-kilometre protected fibre route linking Mombasa to Goma via Nairobi, Kampala, and Kigali. The terrestrial link provides the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with direct, high-capacity access to subsea systems on the Kenyan coast while integrating with data centres along the route. 

“By creating a protected route from the coast all the way into Goma, we’re giving operators and enterprises direct, reliable access to global capacity. It dramatically improves resilience and performance, while opening new commercial opportunities across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC.” 

— Martin Cox, Chief Commercial Officer, Paratus Group 

A similar multi-country approach is appearing elsewhere. Airtel Telesonic’s planned East and Central African backbone will span 139 nodes and support capacity of up to 38 Tbps, with the network designed in part to improve landlocked countries’ access to high-capacity international bandwidth. 

Where terrestrial infrastructure buildouts face geographical or security hurdles, non-terrestrial backhaul is increasingly deployed alongside fibre to prevent single-route dependency. 

“Our big focus is Africa. We’re working closely with the European Commission on multiple projects to bring connectivity to landlocked regions, where terrestrial infrastructure remains limited. Satellite can bring connectivity to villages that have never had internet before, and our goal is to support as many digital inclusion projects as possible.” 

— Simon Gatty Saunt, Vice President Sales Europe & Africa, SES 

Together, multi-orbit satellite systems and redundant terrestrial corridors signal a decisive shift: moving away from isolated national builds toward multi-path regional architectures. 

The next challenge is making those routes affordable and interoperable 

While route diversity strengthens network resilience, it does not automatically guarantee lower data tariffs. The primary hurdle remains commercial: if middle-mile transit fees remain high, those costs are passed directly down the value chain to domestic consumers. 

Within the CAB network framework for the Central African Republic, regulatory models advocate for cost-sharing mechanisms, open non-discriminatory access to dark fibre, joint regional bandwidth procurement, and local Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Keeping local traffic within regional borders reduces the need to route domestic queries through expensive international IP transit. 

Market evidence demonstrates that regulatory intervention and infrastructure competition can materially alter end-user economics. In Gabon, the introduction of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable coincided with a 93.3% drop in data tariffs between 2017 and 2022. Conversely, reliance on single subsea links or monopolistic transit channels keeps pricing artificially high. 

This structural dynamic underscores the core challenge of inland digital transformation, as African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Secretary General John Omo highlights regarding infrastructure delivery and consumer affordability: 

“There must be a pipeline delivering the content to the end user. It is not enough to put a terminal in someone’s hands… What matters is providing relevant content and ensuring the backhaul can deliver it at the right speeds, whether for health, education, or agriculture.” 

— John Omo, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union (ATU) 

Omo emphasizes that closing the inclusion gap requires aligning harmonized cross-border policies with robust backhaul infrastructure, noting that guaranteed landlocked access to subsea cables and coordinated cross-border regulations are essential to regional competitiveness. 

Regional fibre corridors are becoming part of Africa’s connectivity strategy 

That is already changing how infrastructure is being planned. 

South Sudan, for example, granted Bayobab Infra Solutions a 15-year licence in October 2025 to build and operate national and cross-border fibre networks, international leased circuits and IP transit. The licence forms part of Project East 2 West, which aims to build a resilient fibre corridor connecting East and West Africa. 

These initiatives reinforce a fundamental operational reality: landlocked countries cannot solve their international connectivity constraints entirely within their own borders. Their networks have to connect into neighbouring markets, subsea cables, data centres and other backbone systems as part of a regional architecture. 

That also makes coordination between countries more important. The ITU’s CAB framework calls for harmonised business models among bordering countries, common use of bandwidth and regional cooperation to reduce international connectivity costs. 

The connectivity gap will depend on what happens beyond the national network 

The underlying demand for digital services across landlocked Africa is clear, yet the gap between signal availability and real-world usage remains wide. Bridging this divide requires moving beyond standard coverage metrics to address the broader structural ecosystem: route redundancy, transit pricing, open-access regulations, and regional coordination.   

Projects like the Central African Backbone, the Mombasa-Goma corridor, and Project East 2 West demonstrate that the physical building blocks are taking shape. The ultimate test over the coming years will be operational and regulatory: whether these cross-border corridors operate as open, competitive networks that drive down wholesale costs, or simply add more physical fibre to traditional, expensive transit paths. 

For nations unable to land a submarine cable on their own coastlines, regional connectivity is far more than an auxiliary network layer; it is the indispensable bridge to the global digital economy.