Pan-African technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies today announced the launch of its shortest terrestrial fibre route between the east and west coasts of Africa, connecting Mombasa in Kenya to Muanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement, the company says with the completion of this route, Liquid establishes a new global internet transit route between Asia and the US through Africa, avoiding high-risk bottlenecks in the Middle East and Europe.

The new route will also serve tens of millions of people in Africa's landlocked cities, towns and villages, says the company.

It notes that access to high-speed connectivity is vital to ensuring organisations on the continent can continue their digital transformation journeys to remain relevant and be part of this growing digital economy.

According to Liquid, this digital corridor passes through 847 cities, towns and villages, impacting more than 138 million people and is also a direct route between South-East Asia and the Americas.

David Eurin, CEO of international wholesale at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, says: “The current need for reliable connectivity between Asia and USA is booming.

“Adding this corridor to our network will help organisations avoid the Red Sea and Europe routes as they have become bottlenecks for global internet traffic. Also, this new fibre network addresses demand in landlocked countries in Africa as more businesses expand their operations within and beyond African borders.”

In addition to available capacities between 1Mbps to 100Gbps, Liquid says it will provide its customers access to all digital services in its stable, including data centre co-location, cloud and cyber security services.

It points out these services are the foundations for digital growth and innovation across the region. For international customers, the company says the corridor offers a low latency path to connect Asia, Africa and the US as an alternative to busier routes via the Middle East and Europe.