A groundbreaking digital infrastructure project is poised to revolutionize connectivity across North Africa’s Mediterranean coastline. The Medusa subsea cable, spanning 8,700 kilometers, will become the first submarine cable to link all five North African nations—Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt—with southern Europe and potentially onward to Asia.
Scheduled for operational deployment in the eastern Mediterranean by 2025 and the western segment by 2026, this €370 million project addresses critical bandwidth limitations that have hampered the region’s digital growth. While Morocco functions as a major cable hub for Europe-West Africa traffic and Egypt serves as a crucial Europe-Asia gateway, the intermediate nations of Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya have relied on aging infrastructure incapable of handling modern bandwidth demands.
The project represents a remarkable triumph over significant geopolitical challenges. Algeria and Morocco maintain severed diplomatic relations since 2021, with borders closed since 1994 due to the Western Sahara dispute. Libya remains divided between rival administrations following a decade of civil conflict. Regional cooperation has been further hampered by post-Arab Spring instability and uncompetitive telecommunications markets.
European Union funding through its Global Gateway strategy—a €320 billion initiative positioned as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative—has been instrumental in advancing the project. The EU and European Investment Bank are providing partial financing for Medusa, recognizing North Africa’s strategic importance due to its geographical proximity.
Miguel Angel Acero, Vice-President of Operations at project developer AFR-IX Telecom, emphasizes the cable’s educational benefits: “It will connect North African universities to Europe, which is really needed. It’s in the interest of Europe to reinforce the university level in Africa.”
The cable operates on a “carriers’ carrier” model, providing infrastructure for telecom companies rather than functioning as a consortium or proprietary cable for tech giants. This approach has enabled cooperation among historically adversarial regional telecom providers. As submarine cable consultant Julian Rawle explains: “They are simply providing ‘dumb’ cables for others to use, and relying on the margins they make from wholesale activity.”
Despite significantly bolstering internet capacity and enabling 5G deployment, analysts don’t anticipate consumer price reductions due to market concentration among few telecom providers. Guy Zibi of Xalam Analytics notes: “These markets generate between a quarter to a third of all Africa’s data traffic. It’s a significant base, but well controlled by a small number of providers.”
The cable’s economic impact will vary across the region, with Morocco’s more open investment climate likely yielding greatest benefits. While the project may stimulate country-level e-commerce, it isn’t expected to drive regional economic integration or immediately transform North Africa into a digital hub comparable to Saudi Arabia or the UAE.
Future expansion plans include extending the cable through Egypt to the Red Sea, though current regional instability presents challenges. The project represents a landmark achievement in digital infrastructure that could reshape North Africa’s technological future despite complex geopolitical realities.