Thoughts On The State of African Subsea Networks: Sénégal, Ghana, Ivory Coast

1. The Gate to Hell in Dante's Inferno has an inscription stating "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here". I think he was actually referring to the Senegal telecommunications market. My conversations with African carriers and Tier 2 ISPs suggest that entering the market is extremely difficult. Much more than Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria or South Africa. Only the Sonatel/Orange joint venture (cartel?) has managed to secure a gateway license for 2Africa capacity. This is the consequence of the pernicious and incestuous relationship between Senegal's government and the de facto Sonatel monopoly. Developing a country is best accomplished via competition with low barriers to entry, not government sanctioned monopolies with a good dose of under-the-table brown bags stuffed full of Euros and US dollars. The Senegal government is spending a huge amount on the Numerique data center and other digital projects, but they will not live up to their promise unless transport prices mat...