By Niva Yadav
Google is to build the first subsea cable connecting Africa with Australia.
The company this week announced it will build the Umoja cable between Western Australia and South Africa. Capacity details or project timelines weren’t shared.
Umoja also features a terrestrial path from South Africa to Kenya through Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Google said the terrestrial portion has been built in collaboration with Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
“This new intercontinental fiber optic route will significantly enhance our global and regional digital infrastructure,” said president of Kenya Dr. William S. Ruto.
“This initiative is crucial in ensuring the redundancy and resilience of our region’s connectivity to the rest of the world, especially in light of recent disruptions caused by cuts to subsea cables.”
Google added it will be signing a statement of collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Information Communications and the Digital Economy to accelerate joint efforts in cybersecurity, data innovation, upskilling, and AI deployment.
The name Umoja is derived from the Swahili word for unity and is part of Google’s Africa Connect initiative. The tech giant launched its Equiano cable, connecting Africa and Portugal, in 2022.
In 2021, Google committed to investing US$1 billion in Africa. Since then, the company said it has invested US$900 million.
Google launched its first African cloud region in Johannesburg in January this year.
