Map of West African submarine, terrestrial fiber cable infrastructure, locations of IXPs & Data center.

The map depicts the regional connectivity of submarine cable companies to West African countries, its landing points and capacity, the terrestrial fiber connection from one country to another. It also shows the locations of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and Data center of each country.

The total design landing capacity of the submarine companies which passes through West African region is 305.17 Tbps. There are ten (10) submarine cable companies (ACE – Africa Coast to Europe, GLO -1[2], Main One[4], ATLANTIS-2[1], SAT-3/WASC[5], WACS[5], EllaLink[1], Equiano[2], SHARE[2], Maroc Telecom[3] with thirty-five (35) landing points in the region. The red node in the map sends fiber data while the brown node receives it.

There are fourteen (14) Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) but there is no IXPs in Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau while Sierra Leone is not confirmed. Also, there are fifteen (15) Data Centers but there is no government-owned Data Center in Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Nigeria while Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone are not confirmed.

Telecoms Infrastructures

Internet exchange points

An Internet exchange point (IXP) is a physical location through which Internet infrastructure companies such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and CDNs connect with each other. These locations exist on the “edge” of different networks, and allow network providers to share transit outside their own network.

The table below lists the number of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and their locations in the ECOWAS Member States.

Data center

A data center — also known as a datacenter or data centre — is a facility composed of networked computers, storage systems and computing infrastructure that organizations use to assemble, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data. A business typically relies heavily on the applications, services and data contained within a data center, making it a critical asset for everyday operations.

The table below lists the number of datacenters and their locations in the ECOWAS Member States.

West African submarine cable companies and landing points

Ten (10) submarine cables pass through the West African coastal countries.

Description of submarine cable company connectivity by Member States and its landing points

* Virtual landing point

Landlocked and coastal countries in West Africa

Landlocked Countries

A landlocked country is a sovereign country that is enclosed entirely by land. A landlocked country may be surrounded by one or more countries having access to a high sea or by one or more landlocked countries. For several landlocked developing countries, the lack of sea access can pose a challenge economically, as access to trade routes is more limited.

The West African region have three (3) landlocked countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Coastal countries

The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is the area where land meets the sea or ocean, or a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. … The term coastal zone is a region where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs.

The West African region have twelve (12) coastal countries – Benin Republic, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.