Central African Republic seeks to diversify internet routes

The Central African Republic is seeking to diversify its international internet access to reduce its heavy dependence on Cameroonian infrastructure. A recent fiber optic cut in Cameroon disrupted services in Bangui, highlighting the vulnerability of the landlocked nation to outages and commercial disputes involving neighboring transit providers.

To mitigate these risks, the country is looking toward the Central Africa Backbone (CAB) project, which aims to provide more robust and affordable regional connectivity. This initiative is supported by the African Development Bank and the European Union.

Potential new routes include an interconnection with the Republic of Congo, which has access to the WACS and 2Africa submarine cables, as well as exploring eastern links through cooperation with South Sudan. Diversifying these routes is intended to lower transaction costs and extend network access to rural areas, impacting sectors such as banking, administration, and digital payments.