The 45,000-kilometer-long submarine cable 2Africa, with a capacity of 180T/s, will depart this week from KwaZulu-Natal on the coastline. The opening of this submarine cable may greatly increase the speed of South Africa's connection to the external network, which is also the world's largest submarine cable system.
China Mobile, Facebook, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, MTN, and other large consortia are involved in the construction of this submarine fiber optic cable.
Submarine cables are divided into submarine communication cables and submarine power cables. Submarine communication cable is mainly used for communication business, expensive, but with a high degree of confidentiality.
Submarine power cables are mainly used for underwater transmission of high-power electricity, and the role of underground power cables are equivalent, only the application of the occasion and the way of laying different.
As the submarine cable project is recognized by the world as a complex and difficult large-scale project, from environmental detection, and marine physical survey, as well as the design, manufacture, and installation of the cable, are applied to complex technology.
Therefore, the submarine cable manufacturers in the world are few, mainly Norway, Denmark, Japan, Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, and other countries, these countries in addition to manufacturing also provide laying technology.
At present, there is a lack of cables in South Africa, and the development of the information technology network is extremely slow, including the cable market in South Africa has not been very prosperous.
In 2013, the South African wire and cable market was valued at $355 million in 2013, driven by the continued growth of the infrastructure sector in South Africa, which was then expected to reach $834.5 million by 2020.
The market growth is further supported by the growing transmission and distribution sector today, and the use of wires and cables in the communication sector is also supporting the market growth.
In addition, the demand for wire and cable can also be attributed to the growing demand from the automotive industry in South Africa, where wire and cable are used in different branches of the automotive industry.
The growing automotive industry in South Africa has not only contributed to the growth of the wire and cable market but has also supported the growth of local cable manufacturers. This has allowed many cable companies to see the cable hope in South Africa and laid the foundation for the introduction of future cable market expansion.
In terms of product type, copper wire, and cable have occupied the largest share of the wire and cable market in South Africa in previous years.
The demand for copper wire and cable is driven primarily by the ongoing development of South Africa's power generation, distribution, transmission, electronic circuits, telecommunications, and several other types of electrical equipment industries.
With the increasing demand for automobiles in South Africa, the demand for copper wire and cable in this market is expected to continue to expand.
In terms of the product under pressure, South Africa's low-voltage wire and cable holds the largest market share, followed by high-voltage wire and cable.
The growth of the low-voltage wire and cable market is attributed to the increasing applications in electronics, industrial and residential applications, railroads, airports, and power transmission and distribution in South Africa, while the low-voltage wire and cable market is also driven by the growing demand for enhanced safety in public or residential buildings.
In terms of this segment of the cable market, the South African cable market is currently still increasing in value.
The market is dominated by low-voltage cables, which account for approximately 81.9% of the overall cable market, medium-voltage cables account for 8.1%, and high-voltage cables account for 10%.
From the current supply and demand balance of the South African cable market, the growth of local cable production in South Africa is limited by the growth of cable imports. China accounts for 25% of South Africa's total wire and cable imports, followed by Zambia at 13% and Germany at 10%.
Copper-core fiber-based low-voltage telecom cables account for the largest import value, accounting for 39% of the South African wire and cable market.
Imports of automotive cables and assemblies to South Africa are also large.
Despite the growing threat of imports to the local wire and cable manufacturing industry in South Africa, South Africa's local wire and cable manufacturing industry to further develop the potential of export markets are also very large.
African countries such as the DRC are a growing market for South African low-voltage cable exports.
It is worth noting that South Africa is currently one of the six largest African countries that can produce high-voltage cables, while Africa's largest economy - Nigeria is the first in West Africa, Africa's sixth country that can produce high-voltage cables.
The R150 million Cable for Africa (CBI) facility in Vereeniging, South Africa, is the first facility in sub-Saharan Africa to design and manufacture 275KV high voltage underground cables with conductor sizes up to 2500 mm².
In summary, it can be understood that the cable market in South Africa is a mix of good and bad, high and low.
The submarine cable market is simply out of reach for them, cannot build independently on its own, and have to rely on the help of other countries and companies.
As early as 2001, Africa laid the first submarine cable - SAT-3 / WASC submarine cable, for opening Africa to the world and opened up a new "highway".
Subsequently, with the further promotion of Africa's submarine cable construction, Africa has completed the submarine cable project East Africa Submarine Cable System (TEAMS), Southeast Africa Submarine Cable System (SEACOM), GLO-1 submarine communication cable system, East Africa Submarine Communication System (EASSy), MainOne submarine cable system, West Africa Coast to Europe Cable System (ACE), West Africa Submarine Cable System (WACS).
This large submarine cable project will be completed in 2024, linking Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
This submarine cable project, if completed, will bring a very big boost to the local economy, especially to greatly improve the speed of network connectivity.
