Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa 2020
The project involves the construction of a submarine optical fiber cable across Lake Tanganyika, connecting Kigoma in Tanzania to Kalemie in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The cable is 186 km in length and will be deployed at lake depths reaching up to 1,470 meters. It will use G652D standard single-mode optical fiber with an initial capacity of 100 Gbps, expandable to several terabits per second using OTN over DWDM overlay technology. The primary component is the lake-bed cable, which will extend the existing Tanzania National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) into eastern DRC. The NICTBB, managed by Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation (TTCL) on behalf of the Government of Tanzania, already spans approximately 7,910 km and connects Tanzania to six neighboring countries: Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. The project also includes establishing Points of Presence (PoPs) on both sides to facilitate interconnection and service delivery. The cable design incorporates specialized burial techniques and environmental safeguards to address seismic risks along the East African Rift. Joint environmental studies by TTCL and the Societe Congolaise des Postes et Telecommunications (SCPT) are being conducted to ensure compliance with the Ramsar Convention protecting Lake Tanganyika's biodiversity. This infrastructure is critical for digital integration within the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), providing a direct, high-capacity link that bypasses challenging overland routes. The project is recognized under the AUDA-NEPAD 2nd PIDA Priority Action Plan (2021-2030) as a key link for digital integration in East and Southern Africa.
The government of Tanzania constructed a National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) connecting all Regions in Tanzania and cross boarder connectivity to Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The NICTBB has a total length of 7,910Km. The aim of NICTBB is to provide connectivity to all neighboring countries. Now the government is planning to connect with DRC by construction of optical fiber cable. The ideal of connection is between Kigoma in Tanzania and Kalemie in DRC, where the submarine optical fiber cable will be constructed. To achieve direct cross border link across lake Tanganyika, it will requires understanding of lake Tanganyika's bottom terrain and hydrology, landscape of beach sides, assessment of risks for marine activity and analysis of environmental factors for an in-depth design. The process will need to involve desk study, preliminary system design, route survey then detailed system design, which will determine the requirements for its implementation and operation. However, for generic understanding of requirements, we have identified possible locations of cable landing points along the shores of lake Tanganyika. The direct water distances between the two points is approximate to 150km with 1,470m considered as possible maximum depth of lake Tanganyika. Therefore considering that the cable will need to be layed down at the bottom of the lake, about 200km of submarine OFC could be needed for laying between the two points.