Due to go live later this year, the Equiano cable will span 12,000km, starting in Portugal, Europe, along the West Coast of Africa and landing in Lomé, Togo; Lagos, Nigeria (for which WIOCC is the cable's landing partner); Swakopmund, Namibia; Rupert’s Bay, Saint Helena and Melkbosstrand, South Africa.
Announced back in 2019, the Equiano cable, named after Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist, Olaudah Equiano, was manufactured by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and ' will be the first subsea cable to incorporate optical switching at the fibre-pair level, rather than the traditional approach of wavelength-level switching'.
“Google is committed to supporting Africa’s digital transformation and we are excited to see the impact of the landing of Equiano in Nigeria. We've worked with established partners and in-country experts to guarantee that Equiano has the greatest potential effect in Nigeria and throughout Africa,” said Juliet Ehimuan, director of West Africa at Google.
“Equiano is set to make an enduring contribution towards the development of Nigeria’s communications infrastructure and today marks another major step in its development. We look forward to honouring our commitment to be part of Africa’s digital transformation.”
Equiano is set to deliver a range of benefits to Nigeria including, an 6-fold Increase in internet speeds; a 21% reduction in internet retail prices; a six percentage point increase in internet penetration; boosting the country's GDP by USD10.1 billion by 2025; to create 1.6 million jobs by 2025; and to save 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, according to Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics.
“We are proud to have been selected by Google as the landing partner for the Equiano cable in Nigeria, landing the cable directly into the OADC Lagos data centre. From there it will be extended to other data centres across Lagos," said Chris Wood, chief executive officer at WIOCC.
“The Equiano cable will deliver improved internet quality, speeds and affordability to the people of Nigeria. However, for the benefits to be fully felt throughout Nigeria, hyperscale connectivity needs to be extended from the Lagos area to the rest of the country. To make this happen, WIOCC is also deploying a comprehensive, hyperscale national fibre network. The network will go live in phases, starting in June and continuing through to the end of the year. When combined with the Equiano cable this network will deliver transformational benefits across the country.”
