Google announces new connectivity plans for Africa. Equiano will land first in Togo, to arrive in South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, and St Helena.
Equiano is the 14th Google investment. The company provides internet subsea cables to connect Africa and Europe, aiming to improve the continent connectivity. The $50 million venture capital startup fund will travel from Portugal to South Africa.
Initially, the plan was to start from Lagos as one of the most dynamic tech hubs on the continent. However, Minister for the digital economy and digital transformation Cina Lawson convinced Google Africa to start in Togo.
This project will have a crucial role in connecting Africa with Europe. In short, internet subsea cables are wires on sea-beds. And they are able to transmit data across huge distances. Indeed, these cable allows 99% of data transition worldwide.
Around the world, we can find over 400 Internet subsea cables. On the African continent, 38 countries have direct access to the open sea. And 37 have at least one cable landing. Specifically:
- 11 countries have only 1 subsea cable
- 10 countries have 2 subsea cables
- 6 have 3 subsea cables
- 10 have more than 3 cables
In the era of remote work, Google plans for Africa will have a huge impact on the country’s development. South Africa not only plans to introduce remote work visa schemes. The country offers plenty of initiative and projects for tech startups and businesses. Especially after the pandemic, Google Africa can be an effective strategy to attract digital nomads and tech companies alike.
