Google’s New Digital Infrastructure Investments will Accelerate Africa’s Economic Growth

Google is investing in digital infrastructure and security Initiatives designed to increase digital connectivity, accelerate economic growth, and deepen resilience across Africa.

To help increase the reach and reliability of digital connectivity for Africa, Google has announced Umoja submarine cable, the first ever fiber optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia.

Anchored in Kenya, the Umoja cable route will pass through Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, including the Google Cloud region, before crossing the Indian Ocean to Australia. Umoja’s terrestrial path was built in collaboration with Liquid Technologies to form a highly scalable route through Africa, including access points that will allow other countries to take advantage of the network.

Umoja, which is the Swahili word for unity, joins Equiano in an initiative called Africa Connect. Umoja will enable African countries to more reliably connect with each other and the rest of the world. Establishing a new route distinct from existing connectivity routes is critical to maintaining a resilient network for a region that has historically experienced high-impact outages.

United States Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, said: “Access to the latest technology, supported by reliable and resilient digital infrastructure, is critical to growing economic opportunity. This is a meaningful moment for Kenya’s digital transformation journey and the benefits of today’s announcement will cascade across the region.”