this is a list of terrestrial fibre optic cable projects in africa. while submarine communications cables are used to connect countries and continents to the internet, terrestrial fibre optic cables are used to extend this connectivity to landlocked countries or urban centers within a country with submarine cable access. while in most of the world a large number of such cables exist, often amounting to robust internet backbones, the lack of such high-speed cables poses a great problem for most african countries. the construction of both submarine cables and their terrestrial extensions is thus considered an important step to economic growth and development to many african countries.