To improve internet connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa, Google has unveiled plans to connect thousands of miles of fibre optics through the fabric of Australia. This country, whose main island is strategically close to the south of the African continent, will thus be the link between the high-speed networks of southern Africa and the rest of the world. In fact, Google expects to have fulfilled this commitment by 2026.
Umoja, a cable of titanic proportions
As Google has publicly announced, the company is immersed in a major project that includes the implementation of Umoja (Swahili for union), a cable that, baptized with that name, has the mission of connecting Australian fiber optic networks with southern Africa through the Indian Ocean. In this way, many sub-Saharan countries will have access to a higher quality Internet infrastructure.
Among the countries that will see these fiber optic services (which will include Google Cloud) are South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya. Therefore, these countries will benefit enormously from Google’s investment of more than 1,000 million dollars, which will have a positive impact on economic growth and technological development, where they also have interesting ideas.
Google’s Globalization Plans
It is clear that Google’s investment in Africa to improve its Internet infrastructure can mean a huge leap in quality of life for the developing populations of a continent that is often largely forgotten when it comes to carrying out such plans. However, although it is clear that Africa benefits from having such an improvement in infrastructure, Google’s ultimate goal is to invest in order to continue finding customers interested in its products and services.
Despite the fact that in some countries, the digital transformation is already quite consolidated, and even many elderly people have a fluid handle as users on the network, in Africa the reality is very different, and access to smartphones, the Internet and other technological services is much more limited, although they have also advanced strongly in recent years with mobile companies such as Transsion. Google’s support and investment will therefore enable many sub-Saharan countries to move more quickly towards globalization.
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