Facebook is increasing its digital footprint in Africa through its Irish subsidiary, Edge Network Services Ltd, which has taken a stake in Safaricom’s ambitious undersea fibre optic cable.
The investment, reported by Business Daily’s Sunday edition, ties the Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta closer to East Africa’s fast-growing internet economy.
Edge Network Services, based in Ireland and operating as Meta’s connectivity infrastructure arm, will finance part of Safaricom’s $23 million (KSh 2.98 billion) Daraja Cable project. The 4 108-kilometre subsea cable will link Oman and Mombasa, delivering greater bandwidth, lower costs, and improved internet reliability by 2026.
According to the report, Safaricom, listed as the project’s lead developer, is steering the Daraja Cable initiative, with the Environmental Impact Assessment filed with Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (Nema) highlighting its scale and strategic importance.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa welcomed the partnership, saying it underscores the telco’s vision to shape Kenya’s digital future. “This investment secures long-term control of high-speed infrastructure for Kenya and supports our growth in 4G, 5G, and fixed broadband,” he said.
With voice revenue growth slowing, Safaricom is focusing on data and digital services, while Meta is expanding its global subsea infrastructure portfolio, including the 50 000km 2Africa and Pearls systems.
Set to connect Africa more directly to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the 2Africa and Pearls systems are subsea fibre-optic cable networks, being developed by global tech and telecom companies, including Meta.
The Daraja system will feature 24 fibre pairs, more than double the standard eight to 16, giving the East Africa country unprecedented capacity as it faces mounting competition from Starlink and Airtel.
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