Liquid Intelligent Technologies has launched two new fully redundant terrestrial fibre routes: one connecting Kenya to Ethiopia and the other connecting Zambia to Malawi.

The Cassava Technologies-owned company revealed the development today, adding that this will allow for increased efficiency and stable regional connectivity, both of which are critical to these countries' economic progress.

According to Liquid, the fibre link between Kenya and Ethiopia, which is over 1000-kilometres long has capacity of four terabytes per second and provides businesses in Ethiopia with access to data centres and cloud services in Nairobi, Kenya, ensuring that data does not leave the continent.

Furthermore, Liquid claims that the cross-border 711 km link between Zambia and Malawi, provides a direct and dependable connection to content caches and data centres in South Africa.

The Kenya-Ethiopia route was developed in collaboration with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) and Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), says the company.

Liquid adds that in addition to the current terrestrial links over the border, the Kenya-Ethiopia route will now have carrier-grade connectivity, allowing data traffic on this route to grow quickly.

In a statement, the company says:

“All initiatives undertaken by businesses under Cassava Technologies work towards realising our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. The completion of these fibre links is yet another milestone achieved by Liquid, as it continues to lay the foundations of economic growth through increased access to high-speed connectivity,” says Hardy Pemhiwa, president and Group CEO, Cassava Technologies.

Adil El Youssefi, CEO: Rest of Africa, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, says: “Kenyan and Ethiopian businesses are rapidly adopting digital technologies, and this new link will enable trade and investment between these two great nations in our region.

“For Liquid Kenya, we see this growing demand being catalysed by the Kenya Kwanza Government’s Digital Superhighway Initiative and this 1000 km of newly lit fibre is our first contribution to the private sector investment into this flagship project.”