New subsea cable among $1bn Google investment in Africa
Equiano subsea cable will increase internet speeds in Africa while lowering costs
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At its first everGooglefor Africa event, Google has announced that it will invest $1bn in the continent in an effort to supportdigital transformationacross Africa.
Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai led thevirtual eventin which the search giant laid out its plans to land asubsea cableinto the continent to provide faster internet speeds, offer low-interest loans for small businesses, invest into African startups and more.
One of the reasons behind Google’s investment is that it wants to help foster innovation in Africa that will then spread throughout the world. For instance, African users were among the first to access the internet through a phone rather than through a computer andmobile moneywas ubiquitous in Kenya before being adopted by the rest of the world according to a newblog postfrom Pichai. Google expects this momentum to increase as 300m people go online in Africa over the next five years.
Picahi reflected on the company’s progress in Africa so far and explained that there is still more work to be done during his speech at Google for Africa, saying:
“We’ve made huge strides together over the past decade — but there’s more work to do to make the internet accessible, affordable and useful for every African. Today I’m excited to reaffirm our commitment to the continent through an investment of $1 billion over five years to support Africa’s digital transformation, to cover a range of initiatives from improved connectivity to investment in startups.”
Equiano subsea cable
As part of its efforts in Africa, Google will invest in projects that will be implemented in countries across the continent including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.
The newEquiano subsea cablewill connect Africa to Europe by cutting across South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and St Helena. According to managing director for Google in Africa Nitin Gajria, this new cable will provide approximately 20 times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve Africa.
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At the same time though, Equiano will lead to a 21 percent reduction in internet prices while increasing speed in Nigeria and almost tripling speeds in South Africa. This new subsea cable is also projected to create around 1.7m jobs in Nigeria and South Africa by 2025.
We’ll likely hear more about Google’s new Equiano subsea cable and how it has increased internet speeds in Africa once it has been deployed.
ViaTechCrunch
After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.
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