Early Warning System

Regions

East Asia and Pacific

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Countries

Vanuatu

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Specific Location

Port Vila - Lifou (New Caledonia)

Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.

Financial Institutions

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Approved

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Feb 10, 2026

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

Prima Limited Vanuatu

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Communications

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Grant, Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Loan Amount (USD)

$ 4.50 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Grant Amount (USD)

$ 1.90 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Investment Amount (USD)

Not Disclosed

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Bank Documents

Tamtam Submarine Cable Project: Initial Environmental and Social Examination

Media Documents

Other Related Projects

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Mar 28, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Nov 5, 2025

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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, ADB's proposed $6.4 million facility will fund in part the $26.76 million project cost, comprising the design, supply, marine deployment, and commissioning of the 411-kilometer Tamtam submarine fiber cable to connect Port Vila, Vanuatu to Lifou, New Caledonia, France.

The proposed Tamtam Cable System will connect Lifou, New Caledonia , to Port Vila, Vanuatu and, in turn, Australia and Fiji providing redundancy to the Interchange Cable Network 1 (ICN1) cable system installed in 2014.

The Tamtam System will be one of the world’s first Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) cable systems which, as well as providing much needed telecommunications redundancy, will enhance seismic monitoring in the Pacific region. The system will include four Climate Change Nodes (CC Nodes) to facilitate real-time monitoring of seismic activities and tsunami detection, particularly in the seismically volatile New Hebrides Trench which lies between Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The proposed technology will provide an early warning system, enhancing security and preparedness for natural disasters.

The Tamtam System will contain three active fibre optic pairs with repeaters with a design life of 25 years, supplied by ASN and deployed by OMS. One fibre pair is reserved for commercial telecommunications bandwidth, including the Government of Vanuatu (GoV). Two pairs are contracted to Pacific Peering/France to support the SMART environmental and scientific sensor data gathering and analysis.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) is partly funding the design, supply, marine deployment and commissioning of the 411 km cable from Lifou to Port Vila, Éfaté as part of the Tamtam Submarine Cable Project.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

According to the Initial Environmental and Social Examination:

Environment: Category B. While CH status is triggered, there is overall low impact risk as CH can be avoided. Where potential adverse environmental impacts are unavoidable they are localised and site-specific, few if any of them are irreversible, and mitigation measures can be readily implemented to further reduce risk.

Involuntary Resettlement: Category C. No physical or economic displacement. Project component only relates to cable laying activities, and no land will be required under this scope of funding. C Relevant sea access will be required.

Indigenous Peoples: Category C. Ethnic indigenous groups (including ni-Vanuatu and Kanak) in the proximity of the cable landing locations in Pango and Lifou are not deemed to be distinctive and vulnerable in the context of potential Project impacts.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Loan (Ordinary capital resources): USD 4.50 million
Grant (Asian Development Fund): USD 1.90 million

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Prima Limited is a Vanuatu-based telecommunications and data infrastructure company that operates submarine cables, satellite teleports, and terrestrial fiber networks. It is known for maintaining the ICN1 subsea cable and is currently developing the 411-kilometer Tamtam submarine cable system to connect Vanuatu and New Caledonia, featuring advanced SMART sensors for early hazard warnings.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Prima Limited Vanuatu	Client	-

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.