The Main One submarine fibre optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe was last week completed and commissioned.

With landing stations in Nigeria and Ghana and branching units in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast, the 1,920 Gbps, 7,000 kilometres long cable will deliver unprecedented broadband capacity to West Africa, more than ten times what is currently available.

With its cable system now turned on, Main One is poised to champion a communications revolution in Africa impacting businesses, governments and individuals by providing higher bandwidth and exceptional speeds at a lower cost.

According to a company press release, the ramifications of Main One’s cable will be felt in all sectors: from education, to health, to entertainment, etc helping driving economic growth and creating job opportunities all over Africa.

“Today is a historic day for West Africa. The arrival of the Main One Cable proves that much good can be done by Africans for Africans. We are pleased to realise the fruit of our dedication and commitment in the past 30 months. More importantly, we are happy to be a channel for driving growth in Africa and changing the status quo for the average African as reliable internet connectivity becomes easily accessible and affordable for all,” said Fola Adeola, chairman of the Main One Cable Company.

According to the African Finance Corporation (AFC), the lead investor in the Main One Cable Company, the system will deliver high capacity bandwidth – equivalent to ten times the available capacity of the existing fibre optic cable serving West Africa, and more than 20 times the satellite capacity currently available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

“As a pan-African financing institution, AFC is proud to be a partner in the Main One submarine cable project, an African-conceived and driven project, which will open and integrate the continent’s ICT markets and address the commercial imperative necessary to drive economic growth,” said AFC president and chief executive, Andrew Alli.