Annobon, Equatorial Guinea

Annobon, Equatorial Guinea: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Annobon is an island territory of Equatorial Guinea located in the Gulf of Guinea, and it serves as a submarine cable landing point connecting the country's remote island province to the wider regional network. One submarine cable lands at Annobon, linking it directly to the neighboring island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. This single connection establishes a regional inter-island corridor between two small island territories in the Gulf of Guinea.

The cable landing at Annobon represents a relatively recent addition to Equatorial Guinea's submarine cable infrastructure, with the link reaching readiness in 2023. As an island geographically separated from Equatorial Guinea's mainland provinces, Annobon's submarine cable connection provides the locality with a direct fiber link to another Gulf of Guinea island, forming a short but strategically regional inter-island segment within the broader Atlantic ocean cable environment.

Cables Landing at Annobon

Ultramar GE is the sole submarine cable landing at Annobon. Spanning approximately 263 kilometers, the cable reached its ready-for-service date in 2023, though it carries a draft status. It connects Annobon, Equatorial Guinea with São Tomé and Príncipe, making it a focused inter-island link between these two Gulf of Guinea territories. No additional technical specifications, capacity figures, or ownership details are recorded for this cable.

Regional Context

Within Equatorial Guinea, submarine cable infrastructure is distributed across three landing points. Bata leads with three cables, and Malabo hosts two cables, while Annobon accounts for one cable. Despite hosting the fewest cables among the three landing points, Annobon still ranks within the top third of Equatorial Guinea's landing points by cable count, reflecting the relatively compact scale of the country's overall submarine cable geography.

Network Role

Annobon functions as a single-cable terminus rather than a multi-cable hub, with the Ultramar GE cable providing its only submarine fiber connection. The landing point enables direct inter-island connectivity between Annobon and São Tomé and Príncipe, a corridor of roughly 263 kilometers across the Gulf of Guinea. This short regional link is distinct from the longer international routes served by Equatorial Guinea's other landing points at Bata and Malabo, which together host five cables and connect the country to broader continental and intercontinental networks.

Equatorial Guinea's first submarine cable landed in 2011, and Annobon's connection came more than a decade later in 2023, illustrating the gradual extension of the country's submarine cable reach to its more remote island territories. In the regional submarine cable graph, Annobon adds a dedicated node for the island province of Annobon, ensuring that this isolated territory has a direct fiber path to the Gulf of Guinea island network.