From Subsea Cables to AI Computing: How Egypt Is Building a Digital Infrastructure Hub

Last Updated 2 hours ago by Kenya Engineer

Egypt is leveraging its strategic position between the Mediterranean and Red Seas to expand international fibre connectivity, develop new digital corridors and attract large-scale data centre investment. The ambition is to move beyond transmitting the world’s data to hosting and processing an increasing share of it.

The infrastructure supporting the global digital economy is undergoing a significant transformation. As artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services increase demand for data processing and storage, countries are competing to attract the infrastructure that makes these technologies possible.

Egypt is positioning itself to become one of the most important locations for this investment in Africa and the Middle East.

For decades, the country has occupied a strategically important position in international telecommunications. Its location between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea provides a relatively direct land bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa, making it a major transit route for international submarine fibre-optic cables.

However, Egypt’s ambitions are extending beyond the transmission of international data. Through investments in submarine cable systems, terrestrial fibre networks, data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure, the country is seeking to develop a more comprehensive digital infrastructure ecosystem.

The strategy is increasingly visible in a series of infrastructure developments, including the expansion of its Trans-Egypt telecommunications corridor, new submarine cable projects across the Red Sea and plans for a large-scale AI data centre with a potential capacity of 200 megawatts (MW).

The developments point towards a broader infrastructure transition: from being a geographical passage for international data traffic to becoming a destination for the storage, processing and commercial exploitation of that data.

Egypt’s geographical advantage in global connectivity

Submarine fibre-optic cables form the foundation of international internet connectivity. Although satellite communications receive considerable attention, the overwhelming majority of international data traffic is carried through physical cables laid across the seabed.

These systems connect telecommunications networks across continents, carrying internet traffic, financial transactions, cloud services, voice communications and other digital information.

Egypt occupies an unusually advantageous position in this network.

The Mediterranean coast provides access to European telecommunications networks, while the Red Sea connects to routes serving the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa. Rather than requiring international cables to travel around the African continent, the Egyptian land corridor allows them to cross between the two seas through terrestrial infrastructure.

According to Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the country has 21 submarine cable systems and 11 cable landing stations distributed between the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. ITIDA estimates that more than 90 per cent of data flows between Asia and Europe traverse Egypt’s network, representing approximately 17 per cent of global data traffic.

These figures illustrate the strategic importance of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.

The principal Mediterranean landing locations include Alexandria, Abu Talat, Sidi Kerir and Port Said, while the Red Sea side includes Suez, Zafarana and Ras Ghareb, among other locations.

The infrastructure is operated and interconnected through a combination of submarine cable systems, terrestrial fibre routes and specialised landing facilities.

Telecom Egypt, the country’s principal fixed-line telecommunications operator, plays a central role in developing and operating this international connectivity infrastructure.

How the Trans-Egypt corridor works

The engineering behind Egypt’s position as a global connectivity hub involves more than the geographical proximity of the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Submarine cables arriving on one coast must be connected to international networks on the opposite coast through secure, high-capacity terrestrial infrastructure.

This is achieved through the Trans-Egypt corridor, a network of underground fibre-optic routes linking cable landing stations along the two coastlines.

When an international cable arrives at a landing station, its optical transmission equipment connects the submarine system to terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure. Data can then travel across the country through fibre-optic cables installed in underground ducts before reaching another landing station, where it can continue through a separate submarine cable system.

The arrangement effectively creates a land bridge between two major international telecommunications regions.

The terrestrial routes are designed to provide geographical diversity, allowing operators to move traffic through alternative paths if a particular section experiences a fault or becomes unavailable.

This is important because international telecommunications infrastructure must maintain high levels of availability. A cable fault, equipment failure, accidental excavation or damage to a terrestrial route can disrupt connectivity across multiple countries.

Providing alternative routes reduces the risk that a single failure will interrupt an entire international connection.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in its study The Strategic Future of Subsea Cables: Egypt Case Study, describes the country’s role as a critical land bridge linking the African, European and Asian continents.

The study also highlights the importance of geographical diversity in cable landing locations and terrestrial crossing routes.

This arrangement is particularly valuable to international telecommunications operators seeking alternative paths for routing traffic between continents.

Expanding the Red Sea digital corridor

Egypt’s connectivity infrastructure continues to expand, with new submarine cable projects intended to increase capacity and provide additional routing options.

One of the significant recent developments is the expansion of the Red Sea Subsea Festoon Cable System.

On 3 September 2026, Telecom Egypt announced an agreement to construct a new submarine cable linking Sharm El Sheikh and Taba, extending its existing Red Sea infrastructure.

The approximately 200-kilometre cable is designed to provide a continuous submarine connectivity path linking Suez, Zafarana, Ras Ghareb, Sharm El Sheikh and Taba.

Its planned design capacity is approximately five petabits per second, with the company describing it as a high-fibre-count, repeaterless system.

The cable is expected to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The development is significant because it extends the country’s connectivity infrastructure into the Sinai Peninsula, creating additional opportunities for routing international data traffic between the Red Sea and Mediterranean networks.

The project is also intended to strengthen the eastern digital corridor and provide additional route diversity.

A repeaterless submarine cable is designed to transmit optical signals over a specified distance without requiring intermediate submerged optical amplifiers. This can simplify the subsea system architecture, although the achievable transmission distance and capacity depend on fibre characteristics, optical power, wavelength configuration and the design of the complete system.

Another important development is the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) submarine cable system.

In June 2024, Telecom Egypt and SubCom announced the completion of IEX landings at Zafarana 2 on the Red Sea and Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean. The system connects Mumbai in India to Milan in Italy through two diversified terrestrial crossings across Egypt.

The system incorporates space-division multiplexing technology and wavelength-selective switching equipment, supporting high-capacity international transmission.

In July 2025, Telecom Egypt also announced the completion of the two Egyptian landings and terrestrial crossing activities for the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable system, connecting Port Said on the Mediterranean to Ras Ghareb on the Red Sea. The wider system connects Singapore to Marseille in France.

These developments demonstrate how Egypt is continuing to attract international cable investment while expanding the terrestrial infrastructure required to connect individual systems.

Engineering submarine cable infrastructure

Submarine telecommunications cables are sophisticated engineering systems designed to operate for decades in an environment characterised by water pressure, corrosion, marine activity and potential physical interference.

At the centre of these systems are optical fibres, which transmit information as pulses of light.

The fibres are manufactured from high-purity glass and arranged within protective cable structures. Depending on the route and seabed conditions, submarine cables may incorporate several protective layers, including steel wire armouring, metallic moisture barriers, insulation and polyethylene outer sheathing.

Cables installed in deeper waters generally require different protection arrangements from those laid close to shore, where fishing activity, anchors and seabed movement present greater risks of physical damage.

During installation, specialised cable-laying vessels transport the cable along a predetermined route and deploy it onto the seabed.

In areas where additional protection is required, particularly near shorelines and in shallow waters, cables may be buried using subsea ploughs or remotely operated burial equipment.

The installation process requires detailed marine surveys to establish seabed conditions, identify existing infrastructure and avoid environmentally sensitive areas.

Cable landing stations form another important component of the system.

These facilities house the equipment required to terminate submarine cables, manage optical signals and connect international cable systems to terrestrial telecommunications networks.

They typically incorporate optical transmission equipment, power systems, environmental controls, monitoring systems and physical security infrastructure.

For operators, the ability to connect several submarine cable systems through a common terrestrial network creates opportunities to offer alternative international routes and additional bandwidth.

Egypt’s strategy of developing multiple landing stations and geographically diverse terrestrial crossings is therefore an important part of its wider connectivity advantage.

From transmitting data to processing it

International connectivity infrastructure creates opportunities for a second category of investment: data centres.

A country may provide the routes through which international data travels without necessarily hosting the computing infrastructure that processes it.

Data centres change this relationship.

They provide the physical facilities where servers, storage systems, networking equipment and specialised computing hardware are installed and operated.

The growth of cloud computing has increased demand for these facilities, while artificial intelligence is introducing more demanding requirements for electrical power, cooling and high-performance computing.

Egypt is seeking to capture a greater share of this market.

In September 2026, Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric and Cassava Technologies announced a partnership to establish Africa Data Centres Egypt.

The project is planned to begin with 20MW of data centre capacity within its first three years, with an expansion target of 200MW.

The first phase is expected to attract approximately US$200 million in foreign direct investment, with total investment potentially reaching US$1 billion at full development.

The project will provide colocation, hosting, interconnection, cloud enablement and managed infrastructure services.

It will also incorporate advanced computing capabilities, including NVIDIA technologies and GPU-as-a-Service, enabling organisations to access specialised processing capacity for AI applications.

The proposed development reflects the growing relationship between telecommunications infrastructure and high-performance computing.

However, the two serve different functions. Submarine cables provide international data transmission, while data centres provide the computing and storage capacity required to process that information.

A strong combination of both can make a country more attractive to cloud operators, technology companies and businesses seeking regional digital infrastructure.

The engineering demands of AI data centres

The development of large AI data centres introduces engineering challenges that extend well beyond conventional commercial buildings.

One of the most important considerations is electrical power.

AI workloads rely heavily on specialised processors, particularly graphics processing units (GPUs), which can consume substantial amounts of electricity when deployed in large computing clusters.

Consequently, a 200MW data centre development requires careful planning of its electrical supply, internal distribution infrastructure and backup systems.

The electrical architecture may incorporate high-voltage grid connections, transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, low-voltage distribution systems, uninterruptible power supply equipment and standby generators.

Redundancy is essential because interruptions to electrical supply can disrupt computing workloads and affect critical digital services.

The design must therefore account for equipment failures, maintenance requirements and potential interruptions to the external electricity network.

Cooling is another major engineering consideration.

High-density computing equipment generates considerable heat, requiring continuous thermal management to maintain operating temperatures within acceptable limits.

Traditional air-conditioning systems may be insufficient for some AI computing configurations, leading to increased adoption of direct-to-chip liquid cooling, rear-door heat exchangers and other advanced thermal management technologies.

The choice of cooling system has implications for electricity consumption, water use, equipment maintenance and overall facility efficiency.

These considerations are particularly relevant in Egypt, where high ambient temperatures and water-resource constraints make efficient cooling an important design requirement.

Data centre operators also assess performance through Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which compares total facility energy consumption with the electricity consumed by IT equipment.

A PUE value closer to 1.0 indicates that a greater proportion of the facility’s electricity is being used directly by computing equipment rather than supporting systems such as cooling, lighting and power distribution.

Other engineering requirements include fire detection and suppression, structural design, physical security, network redundancy and building management systems.

The integration of these systems is essential to maintaining continuous operations.

A national strategy for the digital infrastructure economy

Egypt’s infrastructure expansion is accompanied by a broader policy effort to develop the country’s data centre industry.

According to reporting by Al-Ahram Weekly following the Future of Digital Countries Summit in September 2026, Egypt is preparing a national data centre strategy expected to address investment incentives, electricity availability and pricing, licensing procedures and infrastructure readiness.

The strategy is intended to provide a more coordinated framework for attracting international data centre operators and supporting the expansion of cloud computing and AI services.

Egyptian authorities have identified the period between 2027 and 2030 as an important phase in the country’s transition from primarily serving as a telecommunications transit corridor to becoming an international data centre hub.

This transition will require more than investment in buildings and computing equipment.

The availability of competitively priced electricity, reliable grid infrastructure, renewable energy, skilled technical personnel and clear regulatory arrangements will influence the country’s ability to attract long-term investment.

Data centres also create demand for specialised engineering services covering electrical installation, mechanical systems, cooling, fibre deployment, commissioning, testing and maintenance.

Developing these capabilities locally could increase the economic value generated by the sector beyond the initial construction investment.

What Egypt’s strategy means for Kenya and Africa

Egypt’s approach offers useful lessons for other African countries seeking to participate in the expanding global digital infrastructure market.

Kenya, in particular, has several of the underlying components required to develop a stronger regional position.

The country has established international submarine cable connectivity through Mombasa, terrestrial fibre networks serving regional markets and a growing digital services industry.

Its electricity generation mix, which includes substantial geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar resources, also provides an opportunity to attract data centre investment interested in lower-carbon electricity supplies.

However, the development of a competitive data centre industry requires coordinated investment across several infrastructure sectors.

Reliable electricity supply is particularly important. Large computing facilities need dependable power, predictable tariffs and sufficient grid capacity to support both initial operations and future expansion.

Kenya must also continue developing international fibre connectivity, resilient terrestrial routes and the supporting infrastructure required to serve cloud and AI workloads.

The proposed LuLu Coastal Cable System, for example, illustrates how additional coastal connectivity infrastructure could support the development of new digital investment locations beyond established urban centres.

There is also an opportunity to develop stronger links between telecommunications infrastructure, industrial parks, renewable energy projects and data centre campuses.

Egypt’s experience demonstrates the value of treating these investments as components of a wider national infrastructure strategy rather than isolated telecommunications or technology projects.

For Kenya, the opportunity lies in combining its renewable energy resources, international connectivity, technical workforce and regional market access into a competitive digital infrastructure proposition.

The next phase of Africa’s digital infrastructure

The expansion of AI and cloud computing is changing the economic significance of international telecommunications infrastructure.

Countries that previously competed primarily to provide connectivity are increasingly seeking to attract the computing facilities that process, store and commercialise digital information.

Egypt’s strategy reflects this shift.

Its established submarine cable network provides an important foundation, while new terrestrial and subsea routes are intended to increase capacity and resilience. At the same time, proposed data centre developments and sovereign AI infrastructure could strengthen the country’s position in the regional digital economy.

The transition will depend on the successful delivery of these projects and the availability of the supporting electricity, cooling, telecommunications and regulatory infrastructure.

For Africa, the broader question is whether the continent can develop sufficient local computing capacity to support its expanding digital economy, reduce dependence on infrastructure located elsewhere and participate more directly in the development of emerging technologies.

Egypt is positioning itself to take a leading role in that process. Its progress will offer an important indication of how telecommunications infrastructure, electrical engineering and advanced computing can combine to shape the next generation of the continent’s digital economy.