Morocco will be part of the major “Medusa” project which will connect for the first time 9 countries of the Mediterranean basin via a submarine cable. The cable will go from Portugal to Egypt.
Part of the key plans of the new EU agenda for the Mediterranean, this project should allow a better connection of the network between the countries of the North and South of the Mediterranean.
The project will require the mobilization of 342 million euros and the European Investment Bank (EIB) has just granted 100 million euros to co-finance it, as well as a grant from the European Union of 40 million euros will serve to improve direct high-speed connectivity between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean basin, in particular for research and teaching communities.
The stated objective of this program will be to connect southern Europe and North Africa, to improve connectivity between the EU and the Maghreb countries plus Egypt in order to support sustainable and inclusive economic development. from 9 countries.
In the long term, Medusa will help to better integrate into the region, to sustainable development and will offer the opportunity to achieve economic growth in the Mediterranean region.
The Europeans, aware of the importance of North Africa and its development, have bet on this project which will promote complementarity between the two shores and reduce the divide between north and south.
The fiber optic submarine cable will link five countries (Cyprus, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal) to four countries in the EU’s southern neighborhood (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt).
This project will see the light of day partially in 2024 in southern Europe by the end of 2024 and from the first quarter of 2025 for North Africa. Morocco will be connected to Medusa” at the beginning of 2025.
The system will be based on antennas, including a station in Torreguadiaro and Zahara de los Atunes in Spain to link Lisbon to Port Said in Egypt.