Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has worked with other investors to close an equity financing deal for the Main-One Submarine Optical Fiber Cable System, which is expected to bring extra telecoms capacity to the West Coast of Africa.

The Lagos-based AFC is one of the largest investors in the US$240-million project, and is also helping to facilitate debt finance from a consortium of development finance institutions led by the African Development Bank and a group of Nigerian banks.

“AFC is proud to be a partner in the Main-One submarine cable system project, an African conceived and driven project which will open and integrate the markets of the continent,” said Mr. Andrew Alli, CEO of the AFC.

The Main-One Submarine Optical Fiber Cable System will link countries on the West Coast of Africa to Europe and other parts of the world.

The project consists of approximately 7000 km of cable between Portugal and Nigeria with branching units to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

The Main-One Cable will deliver 1.92Tbps of bandwidth – which is equivalent to ten times the available capacity of the existing fiber optic cable serving the west coast of Africa and approximately two hundred times the satellite capacity currently available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The project will provide much needed bandwidth for wider provision of affordable and cost effective telecommunications and internet services in West Africa, with specific focus on Nigeria and Ghana,” noted Alli.

The service will operate on an open access basis to telecommunications, internet, and data providers in West Africa.

When the system comes on-stream in 2010, Main-One will improve access to the internet and telecoms services to over 250 million people in West Africa whilst also lowering associated communication costs in the region.

A second phase of the project that will extend connectivity to South Africa is anticipated.