Reliable fibre backbones in Africa
Relying on fibre backbones in Africa demands extensive monitoring, on‑the‑ground intelligence, and a robust maintenance organisation for both fibre operators and their customers.
Building and maintaining fibre backbones across the continent’s vast and varied geography presents a unique set of challenges. Consequently, many fibre network operators—whether independent or part of a mobile carrier—struggle to achieve consistently high uptime. It is not uncommon for the monthly uptime of a specific route to dip below 90 %, even though overall network availability can still exceed 99 % when the network is sufficiently meshed.
From the perspective of investors, global operators, or project management offices (PMOs), the core difficulty lies in assessing a route’s viability, the quality of its construction, and the operator’s ability to maintain—and repair—a hundred‑plus kilometres of fibre under harsh conditions. These conditions often include limited or non‑existent road access, extreme weather patterns, presence of armed groups or security concerns, heavy road traffic and severe erosion, or interference from wildlife. Relying solely on subcontractor reports can obscure significant risks and may even create compliance liabilities.
Digital Africa Development Agency addresses these gaps with a fibre build monitoring and operations audit service for investors and large capacity customers. Our audits combine on‑the‑ground surveys, operations reviews, NOC (Network Operations Center) data mining. Together, these elements pinpoint critical pain points and generate actionable recommendations to strengthen both infrastructure and day‑to‑day operations.
ABOUT DIGITAL AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
The Digital Africa Development Agency helps public and private organisations to maximise the impact of digital services on economic development and their stakeholders, by providing expert advice, market insights and operational support. More information at www.digitalafrica.ai