$47 billion: that is how much Google has invested in Equiano, a new submarine cable designed to develop high-speed internet in Africa.
Connecting Lisbon to Cape Town in South Africa, this new infrastructure will link several countries on the continent to Europe. Named "Equiano" in honor of the Nigerian writer and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, the cable will serve Nigeria in particular.
This is the third private submarine cable built by the web giant. Its deployment is scheduled for 2021 and will be carried out by Alcatel Submarine Network. According to Google, "Equiano," based on spatial division multiplexing (SDM) technology, will have a network capacity approximately 20 times greater than the submarine cables currently deployed in the region.
This investment will enable Google to improve its global technology infrastructure by connecting Africa, democratizing Internet access in a dozen countries and attracting new users.
But the search engine leader is not the only one eyeing opportunities on the African continent. Facebook is also in the game with its project called "Simba." The American giant aims to deploy a submarine fiber optic cable around the entire continent. This vast project would allow Facebook to strengthen its presence on the continent.