Meta Platforms Inc.’s affiliate Edge Network Services will help finance and take a stake in Safaricom PLC’s new 4,108-kilometre Daraja subsea cable, a system linking Oman to Mombasa that is set to go live in 2026.
Regulatory filings show Safaricom as the project proponent, with Kenya’s Communications Authority already reviewing its application for landing rights. The Kenyan segment of the build is expected to cost $23 million.
The Daraja system is being designed with 24 fibre pairs—well above the eight to 16 typically deployed—allowing Safaricom to expand bandwidth for 4G, 5G, and fixed broadband users. Undersea cables carry about 95% of global internet traffic.
For Safaricom, East Africa’s largest telecom operator, Daraja will diversify capacity and reduce reliance on third-party providers such as SEACOM and Telkom Kenya, which currently handle most of Kenya’s subsea landings. Safaricom’s SEACOM agreements are due to expire in June 2028.
The investment underscores Meta’s broader push into subsea infrastructure, including its Project Waterworth system, and comes as rivals like Google also increase cable deployments touching Africa.
The rollout lands amid heightened competition from satellite broadband providers such as Elon Musk’s Starlink and new cable activations by Airtel Kenya, alongside government-driven digitisation and rural connectivity projects.
If executed on schedule, Daraja is expected to lift Kenya’s internet capacity and reliability, potentially reshaping pricing and service performance in a market where Safaricom already leads fixed broadband share and counts mobile data as its fastest-growing revenue line.