• Available bandwidth rose 16.4% to 28.13Tbps, while used capacity increased only 3% to 17.76Tbps
  • Daraja is expected to enter service in 2026, adding a 4,108km Mombasa–Oman route with Safaricom as project proponent

The fact

Kenya’s available international internet bandwidth rose 16.4% quarter on quarter to 28.13Tbps in the three months to March 2026, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya. Used international bandwidth increased 3% to 17.76Tbps, from 17.23Tbps in the previous quarter. The figures are based on returns submitted by licensed operators.

Safaricom’s Daraja subsea cable is expected to go live in 2026, according to an environmental assessment cited by Business Daily. The 4,108km system will connect Mombasa with Salalah in Oman using 24 fibre pairs. Safaricom is the project proponent and Meta affiliate Edge Network Services is financing the project. Safaricom holds a 32% stake in the existing TEAMS cable, but Business Daily reports that it still relies on SEACOM and Telkom Kenya for connections to Kenya’s subsea cable systems.

The assessment

Kenya already has more international bandwidth available than operators are using, so Daraja is not simply filling an immediate capacity shortage. For Safaricom, the practical change is that it would gain another route through which it can obtain international capacity, this time through a cable project in which it is directly involved rather than relying only on access provided through other operators.

How much that changes Safaricom’s network will depend on what happens after the cable enters service. Daraja is not yet live, and the available sources do not show how much capacity Safaricom will take, how much traffic it will carry or whether existing cable arrangements will change.

For BTW readers, the important test is therefore utilisation, not cable count. If Safaricom moves meaningful international traffic onto Daraja, the project would give the operator a more direct role in how that traffic leaves Kenya. Until then, it remains additional infrastructure whose operational use has yet to be demonstrated.

What to watch

Daraja’s activation is the next concrete milestone. After it goes live, Communications Authority data can indicate whether Kenya’s used international bandwidth is rising. Safaricom disclosures on traffic carried over Daraja, or changes to its existing cable arrangements, would provide a clearer measure of how much the new route is actually being used.