Brussels, 10 October 2025.
At the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels today, the European Commission and key partners from Africa, India, and the Mediterranean region discussed the EU-Africa-India Digital Corridor, an initiative aiming to create a trusted, secure, and high-capacity data connection between continents. The project represents a concrete delivery under the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
IMEC was announced in September 2023 at the G20 Summit in New Delhi. The corridor aims to connect India, the Middle East and Europe through advanced transport, digital, and energy infrastructure to strengthen cooperation in sectors like trade, economy, energy, and security among all partner countries. The IMEC signatories are the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Saudi Arabi, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.
As part of the EU efforts to deliver on IMEC, the EU-Africa-India Digital Corridor, which is centred around the Blue Raman submarine cable system, is an important step forward in the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to bridge the global digital divide and strengthen international research, innovation, and education.
With contributions from Team Europe, including EU Member States, development finance institutions, and the private sector, the initiative will deliver ultra-high-speed digital connectivity across a 11,700 km subsea cable linking Europe, East Africa, the Middle East, and India.
European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela: “By delivering ultra-high-speed, secure connectivity across Europe, Africa, and India, we are not only fostering closer collaboration in research, innovation, and education but also empowering communities to participate fully in the digital economy. The EU-Africa-India Digital Corridor is a key milestone in these efforts. It embodies our commitment to building resilient and diversified digital infrastructure that strengthens global partnerships and drives sustainable economic development.”
The submarine cable system will land in key partner countries including India, Djibouti and Oman, creating a diversified and resilient digital route between continents. The corridor will:
- Link over 10,000 academic and research institutions in Europe with 3,750 institutions in India and Africa;
- Support digital innovation, economic development, and education across three continents;
- Enhance secure, best-in-class connectivity infrastructure that reduces strategic dependency and increases digital resilience.
As part of the rollout, several key milestones were celebrated during the Global Gateway Forum.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the project’s promoter Sparkle formalised their collaboration on the project and Ministers and high-ranking officials from Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania expressed their support to the extension of the submarine cable system to their respective countries.
Additionally, the Forum highlighted a Memorandum of Understanding between the pan-European data network GÉANT, India’s national research network NKN, and the African UbuntuNet Alliance for research and education networking aimed at fostering cooperation to ensure high-performance connectivity for education and research communities.
Background
The EU-Africa-India Digital Corridor reflects the Team Europe approach, with strong support from EU Member States and their private sectors including Italy, France and Finland and in collaboration with Development Finance Institutions such as the EIB and Cassa Depositi and Prestiti. Through this project, the EU is contributing to the implementation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). It will also serve as a foundation for future partnerships in the digital domain.
Global Gateway Forum
The Global Gateway Forum brings together leaders from the European Union and across the globe, alongside key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, thought leaders, financial institutions, and international organisations to promote global investment in infrastructure to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable growth and resilience worldwide.
Global Gateway
Global Gateway is the EU’s positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment disparity and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.
The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions. Together, we aim to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.
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Originally published at: https://global-gateway-forum.ec.europa.eu/news/global-gateway-forum-accelerating-digital-transformation-through-imec-eu-africa-india-digital-2025-10-10_en
