Facebook Investment in Africa to Expand Internet Capacity Moves Ahead

Facebook’s investment in an enormous underwater internet cable circling Africa will move forward with help from partners in China, Saudi Arabia and Europe. The 2Africa internet project, called Simba in its planning phase, would link 16 African countries with cable routes to Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. The 2Africa system would involve a massive investment even by Silicon Valley standards. The 23,000-mile network is designed to provide more capacity than all of Africa’s existing submarine cables combined, more than doubling the continent’s potential bandwidth. Other investors include units of China Mobile Ltd., South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd., France’s Orange SA, Saudi Telecom Co., Telecom Egypt, U.K.-based Vodafone Group PLC and WIOCC, a telecom company controlled by several African carriers.