Paratus Botswana, a leading telecommunications and network services provider, has commenced work on lighting a new fibre route, the SADC Highway, that will connect Gaborone in Botswana, through Zimbabwe, to Livingstone in Zambia.

The first section in Botswana, which is from Gaborone to Plumtree, spans approximately 500km and is scheduled for completion in February 2025.

The project is expected to drive improved rural network coverage as smaller providers capitalise on the reduced cost per megabit resulting from this initiative.

The SADC Highway forms part of the Paratus Group’s Southern Continental Agenda, and seamlessly integrates into the Paratus BKF (Botswana Kalahari Fibre) route launched earlier this year. It will deliver up to 11Tbit/s of potential new capacity to Zimbabwe and Zambia, providing critical redundancy for existing routes through South Africa.

The route offers an alternative route to connect from the east to the west directly to the Equiano subsea cable at Swakopmund in Namibia via TKF, as well as a direct route south to a Teraco data centre in Johannesburg. As an alternative to traditional routes via Beitbridge, the new SADC Highway is highly anticipated and will offer lower latencies and higher capacities for these markets. As Paratus Botswana MD Shawn Bruwer explains, this is an attractive new route for Botswana as well as for Southern Africa. “It is eagerly awaited, as witnessed by several operators already purchasing capacity,” he says.

SADC Highway

“The SADC Highway also represents Paratus Botswana’s fourth fibre route: two into South Africa, one into Namibia, and very soon this new route into Zimbabwe and Zambia. This cements our position in Southern Africa and Botswana as a communications hub, not only due to the geographic location but also to the foresight by Paratus in addressing regional needs. It demonstrates the Paratus Group’s commitment to investment in Botswana and contribution to economic diversification in the country. The various routes now provide unsurpassed redundancy and diversity for the country.”

This investment by Paratus ensures that, upon completion, the SADC Highway will deliver low-latency, high-quality connectivity across the continent and globally. By connecting to the Equiano subsea cable in Namibia, it will increase capacity, lower costs and stimulate economic growth in the region.

Bruwer adds: “This is another part of our ongoing investment in our network infrastructure to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services in the region. These investments align with our vision to connect more people across the continent with quality communications and network services.”

About Paratus Botswana
Paratus Botswana is part of the Paratus Group, a pan-African network operator. Paratus Botswana offers leading network connectivity, internet, voice, satellite and hosting solutions that can support any business with a full-service and full-coverage network. Established in 2016, Paratus Botswana has grown significantly and operates an extensive network covering over 90% of the population. Since its acquisition of Broadband Botswana Internet (BBi) in 2022, Paratus is a diversified telecommunications company that offers a host of services to large and small businesses and residences across Botswana. With its unrivalled infrastructure, Paratus Botswana delivers unmatched resilient connectivity solutions. This ensures its customers benefit from an unlimited, high-quality and stable connection all the time.

As a critical connection point, Botswana is well situated geographically in Southern Africa to serve as a transit between countries. By leveraging its international network, Paratus can open up and create new opportunities for Botswana.

In delivering Africa’s quality network, Paratus Botswana thinks big and believes passionately in the potential of Africa. The company is investing in infrastructure and in delivering unlimited, reliable and affordable connectivity.

About Paratus Group
Paratus is committed to raising the bar for providing quality connectivity in Africa. With an eye on the future, the group is investing in infrastructure and establishing itself as a key player in delivering integrated network services across the continent. Among its many and diverse achievements, the group has invested in and launched the East-to-West Africa fibre route and the express route from Johannesburg to the rest of the world.

The group has operations in 15 African countries and employs more than 800 people. The business also provide satellite connectivity-focused services in more than 30 African countries. This connects African businesses across the continent and delivers end-to-end service excellence. The group’s footprint extends beyond Africa to international points of presence in Europe, the UK and the US.

Born and bred in Africa, Paratus is thinking big as it grows its footprint to deliver Africa’s quality network. The group aims to deliver real value and services to communities across Africa, while making a positive contribution to transformation in terms of both the people and the environment.