- A new backbone partnership targets better national coverage and cross-border capacity in Mozambique
- Improved fibre access could support data centres, cloud services and global platforms expanding in Africa
What happened: Building the missing links
Bayobab Africa and Tmcel have announced a strategic partnership to enhance connectivity across Mozambique. The agreement, unveiled this week, centres on expanding and upgrading national fibre infrastructure, with Bayobab providing wholesale backbone capacity while Tmcel integrates it into its domestic network.
Bayobab Africa is the fibre, data centre and connectivity arm of MTN Group, operating long-haul terrestrial routes that link multiple African markets. Tmcel, the country’s state-owned operator, runs fixed and mobile networks nationwide. According to the companies, the partnership is designed to improve network resilience, reduce congestion and extend high-capacity links to underserved regions.
The timing reflects a familiar pressure point. Mozambique’s data traffic has grown steadily as mobile broadband adoption rises and enterprises shift workloads to the cloud. Yet large parts of the country still rely on limited backhaul, creating bottlenecks between coastal landing points and inland cities. By combining Bayobab’s regional fibre assets with Tmcel’s local reach, the companies say they can shorten routes, add redundancy and lower latency.
The announcement positions the project as foundational rather than consumer-facing. There were no customer numbers or revenue targets disclosed, and no timeline beyond a phased rollout. Instead, the emphasis was on capacity building and long-term digital infrastructure.
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Why it’s important
The deal speaks to a broader recalibration of Africa’s internet economics. Global platforms such as Meta and YouTube increasingly depend on African networks to deliver video and cloud-hosted services, even as local operators race to close historical coverage gaps. Partnerships like this one shift investment towards the middle mile—the often-ignored layer between international cables and last-mile access.
For Mozambique, better backbone connectivity could support data centres, content caching and enterprise cloud adoption, all prerequisites for a regional digital economy. From a financial perspective, shared infrastructure can also improve capital efficiency for operators facing tight balance sheets.
The risk, however, is uneven execution. Fibre projects are capital-intensive and returns accrue slowly, especially outside major cities. Whether this partnership translates into sustained improvements will depend on coordination, open access terms and continued demand growth.
