Meta, led by the company’s Vice President for Africa, the Middle-East and Turkey, Kojo Boakye visited the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Office of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to intimate him of ongoing efforts of Meta to land 45,000 kilometres long 2Africa submarine cable to complement existing backbone infrastructure in Nigeria and solicit the Commission’s support in sailing through all necessary legal and regulatory hurdles.
He also said Meta, through a consortium plan to land 2Africa cable simultaneously in Lagos and Akwa-Ibom States “in order to ensure those not yet connected are connected while those already connected are given opportunity for enhanced and affordable access.”
Boakye stated that 2Africa will deliver much-needed Internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the Middle East and underpin further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access for billions of people, especially in Nigeria.
Responding, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Office of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, has said the support of the Commission awaits law-abiding investors like Meta, (formerly Facebook), which responds positively to Nigeria’s desire for investments that promote the agenda of government to achieve a robust digital economy.
Maida said the regulatory support to all investors, including operators in Nigeria, will be predicated on their playing by the rules and regulations guiding the sector, according to a statement signed by NCC’S Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
According to Boakye, the 45,000 kilometres long, submarine cable will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects will go live in 2023, delivering more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables currently serving Africa, with a design capacity of up to 180 terabytes per second (Tbps).
