May 8, 2025 | Abuja, Nigeria. – Phase3 Telecom, West Africa’s leading independent fibre optic infrastructure provider, in collaboration with Sonatel, has launched a landmark 3,500km terrestrial fibre route spanning Lagos, Nigeria, to Dakar, Senegal.
This strategic initiative marks the next phase of Phase3’s East–West expansion, extending its existing Lagos–Accra corridor to connect with one of West Africa’s most critical digital hubs- delivering scalable, low-latency connectivity and fortifying regional cloud and content capacity.
Strengthening Resilience Across the Region
In a region still recovering from widespread subsea cable disruptions in 2024, the Lagos–Dakar terrestrial route offers a high-performance, land-based alternative engineered for scale and reliability. With latency as low as 32ms, the route provides critical infrastructure for hyperscalers, cloud providers, content delivery networks (CDNs), financial services, and public sector applications.
According to Stanley Jegede, Executive Chairman of Phase3, “This is not just a route- it is a digital spine for West Africa, It connects platforms, empowers ecosystems, and strengthens the future of cross-border digital transformation.”
Connecting the Continent, Empowering Innovation
Traversing Benin, Togo, Ghana, and now Senegal, the route also expands the reach of the Djoliba network and lays the foundation for Ikasira- Sonatel’s next-generation regional platform. The infrastructure is purpose-built for modern workloads, enabling secure access to local cloud zones such as AWS Wavelength hosted in Dakar.
“Downtime is no longer an option,” said Craig Lowe, Chief Growth Officer at Phase3. “This route is designed for hyperscalers and operators who need guaranteed performance and want to take the leap into seamless digital infrastructure.”
A Forward – Thinking Collaboration for a Connected Future
The project is borne out of a shared commitment to regional development through technology. By interconnecting their respective backbones, Phase3 and Sonatel are driving broader economic inclusion and digital sovereignty.
Sékou Dramé, CEO of Sonatel, said “We are proud to partner with Phase3 in this groundbreaking initiative. Together, we are delivering infrastructure that meets the demands of today- and the promise of tomorrow.”
With commercial availability set to roll out soon, the Phase3–Sonatel route is a significant leap in West Africa’s fibre connectivity- enabling a resilient, intelligent internet ecosystem across the subregion and beyond.
