Seychelles East African System (SEAS)

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The Seychelles East African System submarine fibre-optic cable system (SEAS), which is a 2000km cable with a pair of cables with a 320 Gb per second capacity, connecting Victoria, Seychelles and Dar-el-Salam, Tanzania. The promoter, the Seychelles Cable Systems Company Limited (SCS) is a private-public partnership undertaking made up of Airtel, Cable and Wireless Seychelles (CWS) and the Seychelles Government. They have awarded the contract to install the cable to Alcatel-Lucent in Nov 2010. The total cost of the project is $38.26 million. Financing comprises $23.67m debt and €10m equity. Debt is split between $12m credit facility from the African Development Bank and €8m loan from the European Investment Bank. Financial closed on 27 Apr 2011. The ITF grant was used by the Government of the Seychelles (GoS) to acquire an equity stake in the new company created to operate the cable, the Seychelles Cable Systems Company Limited (SCSCL). The purchase of the equity stake was made on 23 September 2011 for the USD equivalent of EUR 3.9m. The income received by the GoS from this equity stake will be used to provide free internet access to schools, hospitals and other social services.