Kenya gets its first locally-owned undersea internet cable with the support of Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The Daraja project could end the country’s reliance on aging cables that left millions offline for weeks.
Facebook Parent Makes Its Move in Kenya Internet Market
Meta just wrote a $23 million check to help Safaricom build Kenya’s first self-owned undersea cable. The social media giant’s infrastructure arm, Edge Network Services, will co-finance the Daraja cable project linking Oman to Mombasa.
Kenya desperately needs internet independence. Past disruptions from damaged cables like SEACOM and EASSy exposed how vulnerable the country remains to network failures beyond its control.
Daraja translates to “bridge” in Swahili. The name fits perfectly. This cable will bridge Kenya to faster, more reliable internet when it goes live in 2026.
Kenya’s Internet Nightmare Drives Cable Investment
In May 2024, millions across East Africa lost internet access when underwater cables SEACOM and EASSy suffered damage off South Africa’s coast. The outage lasted three weeks. Businesses ground to a halt. Students couldn’t access online classes. Remote workers sat idle.
The incident showed Kenya’s dangerous dependence on cables it doesn’t control. Currently, Safaricom relies on third-party operators for most of its international bandwidth. This includes privately-owned SEACOM and state-backed Telkom Kenya.
That arrangement expires in 2028. Safaricom saw the writing on the wall and decided to build its own digital highway.
“Kenya’s regulatory authority instructed local telecom operators to diversify their submarine cable connections following the SEACOM and EASSy disruptions,” according to the Internet Society’s outage report.
Daraja Cable Delivers Major Capacity Boost
The new cable packs serious technical firepower. Its 24 fiber pairs far exceed the 8 to 16 pairs found in older systems. This extra capacity means faster 4G speeds, smoother 5G rollouts, and better home broadband for hundreds of thousands of Kenyans. Video calls will drop less often. TikTok videos will load faster. Online gaming will lag less.
Safaricom filed environmental impact paperwork with Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority showing the project’s $23 million price tag for the Kenyan segment. The Communications Authority already received landing rights applications, giving the project regulatory momentum.
Meta’s Bigger African Internet Strategy
Meta’s Daraja investment fits into a massive global cable expansion. The company already pumps money into the 2Africa project, a 45,000-kilometer undersea cable connecting 33 countries across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
2Africa should go live by late 2025 with capacity for 180 terabits per second. That’s enough bandwidth to stream millions of 4K videos simultaneously.
Meta also announced Project Waterworth in February 2025, a 50,000-kilometer cable that will become the world’s longest when completed. It connects the United States, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other regions.
These investments serve Meta’s business interests. More internet access means more Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp users. The company estimates its cable projects could add $37 billion to African GDP over the next few years.
East Africa Becomes Subsea Cable Hotspot
Kenya sits at the center of East Africa’s cable building boom. The PEACE cable linking Kenya to Pakistan and Europe went live in 2022. Africa-1, connecting France to East Africa and the Middle East, launches in 2025.
Google announced the Umoja cable in 2024, the first direct fiber connection between Africa and Australia. The cable will link Australia to South Africa underwater, then connect to Kenya through land-based fiber.
Airtel Kenya is also preparing its own submarine cable activation. The competition creates options for businesses and consumers while driving down prices.
Meanwhile, established players like Telkom Kenya control five of the six submarine cables currently landing in Kenya. These include TEAMS, EASSy, Lion2, DARE 1, and PEACE cables. Safaricom holds a 32% stake in TEAMS but wants more control over its international connectivity.
Digital Independence Drives Infrastructure Push
Kenya’s government backs the cable expansion as part of its digitization agenda. Rural connectivity remains a priority, with many areas still lacking reliable broadband access.
Better internet infrastructure supports the country’s growing tech sector. Nairobi’s reputation as Africa’s Silicon Savannah depends on reliable, high-speed connectivity. Startups, remote workers, and digital nomads all need stable internet to thrive.
The cable investments also reduce Kenya’s vulnerability to single points of failure. Multiple cable routes create redundancy. If one cable breaks, traffic can reroute through others.
For Kenyans, improved infrastructure means better access to online services. E-commerce, digital banking, telemedicine, and online education all depend on quality internet connections.
