Google's Equiano subsea cable has landed in Lagos

The state-of-the-art Equiano subsea cable has landed in Lagos, Nigeria. Next stop is Namibia.

The Google cable, which starts in Portugal and runs more than 12,000km along the West Coast of Africa, first landed in Lomé, Togo. From Nigeria it will run to Swakopmund in Namibia and Rupert’s Bay at Saint Helena before landing at Melkbosstrand in South Africa. The cable will establish a valuable new high-capacity connection between the African continent and Europe.

Named after Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist, Olaudah Equiano, the Equiano cable will help support further digital transformation in Nigeria, a country which has produced five start-up unicorns (companies now valued at more than $1 billion) in the past five years.

A recent impact assessment study by Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics stated that once the state-of-the-art, high-capacity Equiano cable becomes fully operational, (which is anticipated later this year), it is expected to increase internet speeds by a factor of six; reduce internet retail prices by 21%; increase internet penetration by six percentage points; boost GDP by USD 10.1 billion by 2025; boost job creation by 1.6 million jobs by 2025 and save 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.