Major Step Forward for Digitalisation in Africa

Multinational telecommunications company, Angola Cables, announced today that construction had begun on its South American data centre, located in Fortaleza, Brazil. The data centre is an important next step in the company’s roll-out of promoting the digital inclusion and empowerment of Africa by the use of subsea internet cable connecting Africa to the Americas and providing high speed internet at some of the lowest latency speeds between the two continents.

Angola Cables was launched in 2009 with the mission of becoming the leading driver of digital enablement in Africa. The Fortaleza centre represents another important step in developing international routes for digital traffic between the Americas and Africa.



Two key routes will run from the Data centre. The SACS system will connect the Fortaleza centre to Luanda and is expected to be completed by mid-2018. The Monet Cable will connect Miami with both Fortaleza and Sao Paulo Brazil and is due to be completed by the end of 2017. However, the Data Centre aims to accommodate more cables from the cable dense region of Fortaleza.

António Nunes, CEO of Anglo Cables says, “The systems will enhance Africa’s global communications networks, provide a ‘meet me’ point with high connectivity and access to larger markets. They will also deliver the lowest latency routing between Africa and South America.”

He said partnering with Brazil to establish this Data centre has been a productive journey so far. “We were delighted to be a part of the ceremony to mark the start of the building of the centre. This is a Brazilian tradition we were honoured to share in.” Clients who have already signed in Brazil include Prefeitura de Fortaleza, Claranet and AmLight.

Angola Cables’ product manager Fabio José said that the centre is a Tier 3 DC from a design and construction perspective, this will account for the different layers of security, humidity and environment controls and all the pre-cautions required to operate the DC with safety, efficiency and reliability. “We are creating a digital gateway between the closest point to Africa in South America.”

Angola Cables is focused on the 15 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), having established itself as the main international telecom service provider for the Angolan market.

The WACS system, which Angola Cables is a partner in with 11 other companies and which links Yzerfontein in South Africa to London in the United Kingdom is already in operation greatly enhancing Africa’s connectivity to Europe and Asia.