HMN Technologies Co. Ltd (HMN Tech) of China says it has finished laying a submarine telecommunications cable between Senegal and Cabo Verde.

The 720 km of cable is called the Senegal Horn of the African Regional Express (SHARE) cable, and can carry data at the rate of 16 terabytes per second between the capital cities, Dakar and Praia, HMN Tech announced in writing on Tuesday.

The company says it expects the SHARE cable to begin carrying data by the end of March, expanding the network of submarine cables that link Europe and South America through Cabo Verde.

Senegal paid for the new cable, and the Senegalese State Information Agency, or ADIE, will operate it, the company says.

The SHARE cable will help make Senegal a West African internet hub, the HMN Tech announcement quotes ADIE Chief Executive Cheikh Bakhoum as saying.