Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Bayobab, wholly-owned by MTN Group, on its partnership with Africa50 to develop a terrestrial pan-African fibre optic cable network connecting ten countries from the Eastern to the Western shores of Africa. The partnership will invest up to US$320 million in the project.

The partnership is expected to offer substantial improvements in data traffic for internet service providers, mobile network operators and hyper scalers operating in these countries. The development of Project East2West is expected to be completed in 2025.

Bayobab, previously known as MTN GlobalConnect, is a next-generation services company connecting Africa with digital solutions. This investment is within MTN’s previously announced Ambition 2025 plans and will contribute to Bayobab reaching the Group’s target of having 135,000 kilometres of proprietary fibre over the coming three years.

Jennifer Chimanga, Tech M&A and Africa Group partner at Clifford Chance, commented: “Project East2West is a hugely transformative project that will connect some of the least connected countries in Africa whilst significantly improving latency. We are delighted to have played a part in this project, working with the incredibly talented teams at Bayobab and MTN Group, and its partner Africa50”.

The multidisciplinary Clifford Chance team advising Bayobab was led by London Tech M&A partner, Jennifer Chimanga, supported by Hudson Archer (senior associate), Lourenço Limão Oliveira (associate), Bart van Hattum (associate), and Prakruthi Gowda (senior associate), with specialist support from Jessica Gladstone (partner), Michael Lyons (partner), Jack Hardman (partner), Christina Schuetz (senior associate), and Gareth Dray (senior associate).