- Google to create four key subsea connectivity hubs in northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of Africa as part of its Africa Connect infrastructure plan.
- Google aims to commit an additional US$9 million next year to support AI, skills, and tools throughout the continent, having already invested over US$17 million in African colleges and research institutes over the previous four years.
What happened: New subsea hubs and funding boost for Africa Connect
Google has announced a significant expansion of its Africa Connect infrastructure programme; it will establish four strategic subsea connectivity hubs at locations yet to be disclosed, covering all four cardinal regions of the continent (north, south, east, west).
The hubs are intended to link existing and upcoming cable systems, notably the Equiano subsea cable (running along Africa’s western seaboard) and Umoja, a fibre-optic route expected to begin service in 2027 that will connect Australia to Africa via a terrestrial network traversing Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Aside from the physical infrastructure, Google has committed substantial funding toward research and education: more than US$17 million over the past four years for support of universities and research institutions in Africa, plus US$9 million in the coming year. This includes providing training, computing resources and access to advanced AI models.
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Why it’s important
These new hubs and cable systems promise to improve internet reliability, speed and resilience across Africa. By developing several entrance and cable routes (via Equiano and Umoja), and adding hubs in all regions, Google intends to lessen dependence on singular chokepoints that have previously led to outages when undersea cables are destroyed.
Additionally, if local institutions develop the capacity to use them, inexpensive and faster connectivity could allow for greater access to AI tools, digital services, educational materials, and economic opportunities. Rather than just expanding connectivity, the funding for research and universities may help develop local technical and AI expertise.
However, several questions remain:
- Where precisely will the four hubs be located, and how will site selection account for existing infrastructure (or lack thereof)?
- Will the promised drop in costs for end users materialise, given that connectivity is only one part of the cost equation (others include local fibre, regulation, power, and service providers’ investments)?
- How will maintenance, local governance, and affordability be handled to prevent this infrastructure serving only large corporations or urban elites?
This development is part of a broader trend over recent years: Google’s Equiano cable, launched in 2019 and fully operational along the western coast of Africa since 2022, already carries an order of magnitude more capacity than earlier cables, enabling a jump in potential data throughput.
The success of these initiatives will depend not only on cable laying but also on inclusive deployment, regulatory support, and making sure that the benefits (reliable, affordable access; local innovation) reach rural, low-income, and otherwise underserved communities. Meanwhile, Umoja’s terrestrial route was constructed with Liquid Intelligent Technologies and is meant to replicate existing routes that have experienced faults.
