Ceiba-2

Overview

Ceiba-2 is a short regional submarine cable system spanning approximately 290 kilometres in the Gulf of Guinea. It connects Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, serving a corridor along the central West African coast. The cable is owned and operated by GITGE (Gestor de Infraestructuras de Telecomunicaciones de Guinea Ecuatorial), the telecommunications infrastructure manager of Equatorial Guinea.

Route and Landings

In Cameroon, Ceiba-2 has a landing point at Kribi, a coastal city in the south of the country.

In Equatorial Guinea, the cable lands at two separate points: Bata, located on the mainland coast, and Malabo, the capital city situated on Bioko Island. This dual landing within Equatorial Guinea allows the cable to link the country's island and mainland territories with each other and with the Cameroonian coast.

Ownership and Operators

Ceiba-2 is wholly owned by GITGE, the state-linked body responsible for telecommunications infrastructure in Equatorial Guinea. As the sole owner, GITGE manages the cable's operations across all three landing points.

Status and Timeline

Ceiba-2 entered service in 2017 and has been operational for approximately nine years. It currently serves active traffic across the Cameroon–Equatorial Guinea corridor.

Regional Context

Within the central West African submarine cable landscape, Ceiba-2 sits alongside several other systems touching Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Its predecessor, Ceiba-1, entered service in 2011 and covers a comparable distance of 287 kilometres in Equatorial Guinea. The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, landing in Equatorial Guinea and ready for service in 2012, operates at a far larger scale of 17,000 kilometres. The Nigeria Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS), serving Cameroon since 2015, spans 1,100 kilometres, while the South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL), landing in Cameroon with an RFS of 2020, extends to 5,800 kilometres. The more recently commissioned Ultramar GE, landing in Equatorial Guinea since 2023, covers 263 kilometres. At 290 kilometres, Ceiba-2 is longer than 40 percent of the other cables serving this same corridor, reflecting its focused intra-regional scope.

Measured performance over the last 60 days, drawn from 75 ping tests, shows an average round-trip latency of 204.2 milliseconds, with a best recorded value of 203.2 milliseconds.

Strategic Role

Ceiba-2 provides a direct submarine connection between Kribi in Cameroon and the two principal landing locations in Equatorial Guinea — Malabo on Bioko Island and Bata on the mainland. This configuration supports connectivity between Equatorial Guinea's geographically separated territories and extends that link across the national border to Cameroon. As a GITGE-owned asset, it functions as a dedicated national infrastructure resource for Equatorial Guinea's external and inter-territory communications in this sub-region.