Angola Cables is upgrading two major submarine cable systems connecting Africa and the Americas as demand from cloud providers, large digital platforms and AI workloads increases pressure on international networks.
The company is deploying new optical networking technology from Ciena across the MONET and South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) networks.
MONET connects the United States and Brazil, while SACS links Brazil directly with Angola. Together, the systems provide an important transatlantic route connecting African networks with South and North America without requiring all traffic to pass through Europe.
800G services on the network
Ciena says the upgrade will allow Angola Cables to support 800 Gb/s client services on parts of the network while increasing the capacity and efficiency of its existing fibre assets.
The deployment includes Ciena Waveserver technology, the company’s 6500 packet-optical platform and network-control software designed to help operators manage capacity more flexibly.
Ciena says the combined routes span thousands of kilometres of subsea fibre and can provide a direct Angola-to-United States path through Brazil.
AI infrastructure is more than data centres
Africa’s AI infrastructure debate often focuses on data centres and graphics processors. But those facilities depend on another layer that is easier to overlook: high-capacity terrestrial and submarine fibre capable of moving enormous volumes of data between cloud regions, customers and international networks.
Training and running advanced AI systems can involve large datasets, distributed computing resources and constant data exchange between facilities. As more African organisations use cloud and AI services, the capacity and diversity of international routes become increasingly important.
A different Atlantic route
SACS was notable when it entered service because it created a direct South Atlantic connection between Africa and South America. Combining that route with MONET gives Angola Cables a path onward toward the United States.
That route diversity can matter commercially and operationally. Companies increasingly look for alternatives that can reduce dependence on a single international corridor and provide options when network problems affect another route.
The latest upgrade does not by itself determine what African consumers will pay for internet access, nor does it guarantee new data-centre investment. Local pricing, terrestrial fibre, competition, power supply and national regulation all remain important.
But the investment illustrates a broader point: the continent’s AI and cloud ambitions depend not only on computing hardware but on the fibre infrastructure that connects African systems to the rest of the digital economy.
Source: Ciena, 29 September 2026. Official announcement.