Bayobab Uganda launches Kampala-Malaba fibre route, boosting East Africa’s digital connectivity backbone

Bayobab Uganda, a subsidiary of MTN Group, has announced the successful completion of its newest and most direct fibre optic route, linking Malaba to Kampala

As the digital infrastructure arm of MTN, Bayobab plays a leading role in transforming connectivity across the East African Corridor. This critical infrastructure milestone reflects MTN’s mission to extend connectivity to all by expanding its fibre reach across the markets it serves.

Spanning 260 kilometres, the strategic fibre route stretches from Kampala through Tororo to Malaba, creating a vital digital bridge between Uganda and Kenya. Completed between December 2024 and February 2025, this route ensures robust, high-capacity connectivity from Uganda’s capital to Mombasa’s subsea cable landing stations, leveraging the recent activation of the Mombasa–Malaba/Busia link in Kenya. Together, they form the complete East African digital backbone from Kampala to Mombasa.

During the unveiling in Kampala, Juliet Nsubuga, managing director of Bayobab Uganda, reiterated the company’s commitment to advancing technological development in Uganda and across the region.

“In collaboration with the Uganda Railway, we leveraged the existing rail network to deploy fibre, enhancing connectivity and providing high-speed internet access to communities along the line, connecting key routes between Kampala and Malaba at the Kenyan border - and beyond,” said Nsubuga. “This new route caters to the needs of international and national technology and digital players, as well as telecoms and ISPs that serve communities, demonstrating our commitment to connecting Africa.”

Connectivity route launched

This latest development builds on Bayobab’s broader infrastructure portfolio, adding to MTN’s existing fibre deployments, including the Busia–Jinja–Mabira–Kampala, Malaba–Kamuli–Kayunga–Jinja–Kampala, and Malaba–Tororo–Lira–Karuma–Masindi–Luweero–Kampala corridors.

Given Uganda’s landlocked geography, access to fast and reliable international internet depends heavily on cross-border fibre. The newly inaugurated route offers the most direct connection between Kampala and the Kenya–Uganda border, capitalising on Bayobab Kenya’s infrastructure to reach subsea cable facilities in Mombasa. This introduces a valuable alternative to legacy fibre systems, enhancing route diversity, lowering latency, and boosting network resilience.

Julianne Mweheire, director of industry affairs and content development at the Uganda Communications Commission, welcomed the advancement, noting its alignment with the country’s national objectives.“The new route adds to the existing fibre network, connecting Uganda to the Kenya border and should increase on the already existing redundancy of connectivity access for Uganda as a whole. This launch aligns perfectly with Uganda’s national agenda to digitise services, expand connectivity, and close the gap between urban and rural access.”

Sylvia Mulinge, CEO of MTN Uganda, highlighted the route’s transformative potential in unlocking digital opportunities for all Ugandans. “Imagine a startup in Lira testing its mobile app on cloud platforms without delays. A farmer in Kayunga checking real-time weather patterns to guide planting decisions. A remote school in Kisoro livestreaming science lessons from a national university. This is what a modern connected life looks like, and this is what we are enabling,” Mulinge said.

With over 1 terabyte of capacity, the new Bayobab fibre route connects major data centres in Kampala — including Raxio, Airtel House, and MTN Uganda — facilitating improved interconnection for service providers and hyperscalers. It addresses rising demand for reliable connectivity from telecom operators, ISPs, and global tech firms.

Bayobab continues to invest in high-impact, secure infrastructure projects that support digital transformation and economic growth. This latest cross-border fibre link underscores the company’s commitment to enabling Africa’s digital future by connecting communities, markets, and enterprises across the continent.

This collaboration is set to improve high-speed connectivity for businesses, enterprises, and underserved socio-economic communities

Airtel Africa has announced a new partnership with SpaceX to enhance next-generation satellite connectivity across the African continent

This collaboration is set to improve high-speed connectivity for businesses, enterprises, and underserved socio-economic communities. As part of the agreement, SpaceX has successfully acquired the necessary licenses in several African nations, including Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Chad. Licensing processes are also in progress in five additional countries within Airtel Africa's footprint.

Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar, expressed the company's commitment to the partnership, stating, “We remain deeply committed to our vision to enrich the lives of people of Africa. Next-generation satellite connectivity will ensure that every individual, business, and community have reliable and affordable voice and data connectivity even in the most remote and currently underserved parts of Africa.”

SpaceX's vice-president of Starlink business operations, Chad Gibbs, shared, “We’re very excited to work with Airtel Africa to bring the transformative benefits of Starlink to the African people in new and innovative ways. Starlink is available in more than 20 African markets, and this agreement with Airtel highlights how, once licensed, Starlink welcomes the opportunity to join forces with important industry leaders to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from Starlink’s presence. The team at Airtel Africa has played a pivotal role in Africa’s telecom story, so working with them to complement our direct offering across Africa makes great sense for our business.”

This partnership marks a significant step in expanding satellite connectivity across the continent, aiming to bridge the digital divide and provide reliable communication services to underserved areas.

MTN's subscribers are on the rise (Image source: Adobe Stock).

MTN Group saw its total subscriber numbers climb 2.2% in 2024, to 290.9 million, the company revealed in its latest annual report

Active data subscribers also climbed 7.7% to 157.8 million, it added, while data traffic was up by 32.6% to 19,459 petabytes.

In his opening comments to the report, Ralph Mupita, MTN’s president and CEO, called it a “solid commercial performance” amid a challenging global geopolitical landscape.

“In terms of our commercial performance, our results were supported by an increase in the subscriber base to 291 million, a 6.2 million net addition in customers, excluding the markets we exited during the year,” he said.

MTN currently operates in 16 markets, following various international withdrawals last year, including a departure from Afghanistan.

The company also reported encouraging news in terms of its data services, an area in which it sees great potential going forward.

“Our ongoing investments enabled us to capture the ongoing structural demand for our data and fintech services in our markets, with traffic up by 37.3% (excluding JVs) and fintech transaction volumes up 15.3%,” said Mupita.

“Our prospects and investment case are underpinned by the structural demand we see in data and fintech.”

Produced under the theme of ‘Accelerating Africa’s digital future’, MTN also published various other reports covering areas such as ESG and transparency.

“Committed to operating responsibly and ethically, in 2024 MTN remained focused on executing on our strategic intent of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, despite the global uncertainties,” said Mupita.

The reports also spell out how the rapid expansion of AI presents new ethical risks, prompting MTN to develop a Responsible AI Policy to uphold digital rights and data privacy.

“As a business, we remain resolute in our commitment to accelerating Africa’s digital future and will maintain the focus on operational excellence and strategic execution to capture the exciting growth opportunities in our footprint.”

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Morocco is bracing for an influx of tourists (Image source: Adobe Stock).

A new report by Ookla highlights the ongoing growth of Morocco’s fixed telecom sector, driven by fibre optic deployments, which are rapidly improving network performance, ahead of the country hosting various flagship international events in the next five years

The country’s fixed wired broadband market has grown significantly, reaching nearly 2.6 million connections by September 2024, up from over 1.6 million in 2019, according to the Moroccan telecom regulator (ANRT).

Ookla’s latest analysis of wifi performance in the country’s premier hotels also highlights how infrastructure is adapting to meet the demands of high-speed internet connectivity in support of the influx of tourists attending the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) event.

The soccer tournament runs from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. In 2030, Morocco is also set to host the World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.

“Our analysis reveals the ongoing transformation of Morocco’s digital infrastructure, which will play a crucial role in supporting the influx of tourists and international events such as the Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup,” said Karim Yaici, lead industry analyst for the Middle East and Africa at Ookla.

“With continued investment in fibre and the upcoming 5G rollout, Morocco is boosting its appeal as a tourist destination, especially for travellers who prioritise seamless online access.”

According to Speedtest Intelligence data, Morocco’s leading cities, Rabat and Casablanca, are at the forefront of fixed broadband performance. These cities recorded median broadband speeds of 36.55 Mbps and 35.57 Mbps, respectively, in Q4 2024.

Furthermore, wifi performance in luxury hotels in Agadir and Marrakesh is setting a high standard, notes the Ookla report.

Despite lower broadband speeds in these cities, the wifi in top hotels, such as The View, Hotel Riu Palace Tikida, and La Mamounia, far outperforms its peers in other cities with higher overall broadband speeds.

“Casablanca and Rabat offer strong fixed broadband performance, but some of their five-star hotels face challenges in delivering high-quality wifi service,” Ookla said in a statement announcing the report.

“These properties, which are likely connected to fibre networks, deliver limited wifi performance. Potential causes include outdated or misconfigured access points.”

It said optimising equipment placements and upgrading systems could enhance guest experience by reducing congestion and improving connectivity.

Moreover, Morocco’s broadband market is poised for “significant growth”, it added, driven by fibre deployment and plans for a 5G technology rollout.

The Moroccan government’s ‘Maroc Digital 2030’ initiative, with a budget of US$1bn, aims to connect 4.4 million households with fibre by the end of 2025 and reach 5.6 million households and 6,300 government institutions by 2030.

“This expansion, along with the launch of 5G services this year, promises to improve overall internet connectivity and strengthen the telecom sector in Morocco, providing a strong foundation for the tourism and hospitality industries.”