Africa: Google’s new submarine cable project connecting the Continent to Australia
As part of its initiatives in Africa, Google is ramping up investments in digital infrastructure. The goal is to capitalize on the opportunities of the Internet economy, thereby contributing to a prosperous and sustainable digital future for the continent.
On Thursday, May 23, the American technology company Google announced a new fiber optic route linking Africa to Australia to enhance the reach and reliability of digital connectivity in Africa. The infrastructure is named Umoja. The terrestrial part of the network is being built in partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
This terrestrial segment will connect Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. From there, an underwater link will be established to Australia across the Indian Ocean.
According to Google, the Umoja cable is part of the Africa Connect project, similar to the Equiano cable announced in 2019 that connects Africa to Europe. This new investment comes in a context marked by recurrent outages on the submarine cables serving the continent, causing Internet disruptions.
The latest incident occurred on May 12 when failures in the SEACOM and EASSY submarine cable systems caused disruptions in several East and Southern African countries. Similar outages happened in March on the WACS, MainOne, ACE, SAT3, Seacom/TGN, AAE1, and EIG cables, affecting about ten countries in West, Central, and Southern Africa.
« This initiative is essential to ensure the redundancy and resilience of our region’s connectivity with the rest of the world, especially in light of recent disruptions caused by submarine cable cuts. By strengthening our digital backbone, we not only improve reliability but also pave the way for greater digital inclusion, innovation, and economic opportunities for our populations and businesses », said William Ruto, President of Kenya.
