Kenya launches protected coastal cable system to boost digital connectivity

Kenya has launched the LuLu Coastal Cable System, the country’s first fully protected coastal submarine cable network, to strengthen digital connectivity along its Indian Ocean coastline.

The system was unveiled at ITW Africa 2026 and is being developed by INDOI Ltd, Blue Trade Investments Limited, ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, AfriTrade Consulting Group and Kingdom Bank Limited.

According to a statement by INDOI on Wednesday, the cable will connect strategic landing points along Kenya’s 500-kilometre coastline between Mombasa and Lamu.

The landing points include Mombasa, Vipingo Special Economic Zone, Kilifi and Malindi.

The LuLu system combines a submarine cable laid on the ocean floor with a parallel protected terrestrial route. The dual-path design is intended to improve network resilience, redundancy and availability for governments, international operators, data-centre companies and other critical users.

The project will use dense wavelength division multiplexing technology in the 1550-nanometre window, with 144 fibre pairs and a design capacity of up to 60 terabits per second per fibre pair.

INDOI said the system is designed to operate for 25 years and will feature centralised network management.

The cable is expected to be ready for service in the second quarter of 2028, subject to the execution of the required contracts.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of INDOI, Arunachalam Kandasamy, said the project would address a major digital infrastructure gap along Kenya’s coast.

“East Africa is not a market of the future — it is a market of right now,” Kandasamy said.

He said the coastal corridor from Mombasa to Lamu was strategically important but had lacked a unified and fully protected digital infrastructure network.

According to the statement, Blue Trade Investments Limited, INDOI’s Kenya-registered infrastructure partner, will serve as the cable landing party, regulatory interface and operational delivery partner in Kenya.

The company will also support local implementation and long-term operations through its relationships with regulators, coastal communities and government institutions.

INDOI said direct submarine cable connectivity at Vipingo Special Economic Zone could expand the zone’s investment opportunities beyond manufacturing and logistics.

The infrastructure could support hyperscale data centres, cloud-service regional nodes, business-process outsourcing and global business-services campuses, fintech and payment platforms, cybersecurity operations and Internet-of-Things-enabled manufacturing.

The Country Head of ARISE IIP Kenya, George Olaka, said the cable would strengthen Vipingo SEZ’s plans to develop an integrated industrial and digital platform.

“Vipingo SEZ was never intended to be a conventional industrial zone,” Olaka said.

“We are building it as a platform where industry, logistics, value addition and digital infrastructure can reinforce each other.”

He said the project could help attract technology-driven businesses alongside manufacturers and strengthen Kenya’s coastal corridor as an industrial and digital hub.

Vipingo SEZ is being developed as a major industrial and digital platform with the potential to mobilise up to $3bn in investment.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kingdom Bank, Anthony Mburu, said the project highlighted the growing importance of digital infrastructure to investment and economic activity along Kenya’s coast.

The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of AfriTrade Consulting Group, Dr Caroline Saroni, said successful delivery would depend on effective regulatory, licensing and commercial execution.

Saroni said AfriTrade had supported the introduction of VSEZ and INDOI and provided advice on transaction structuring, regulatory approvals, compliance and onboarding.

She added that the project could support investment across Kenya’s coast, Vipingo SEZ and the LAPSSET corridor.

INDOI, headquartered in Mauritius, is the developer, owner and commercial operator of the LuLu Coastal Cable System, while Blue Trade Investments is its Kenyan investment partner focused on ICT opportunities.

Kingdom Bank, a subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, provides financial services to individuals and businesses, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.