Gwamcee News
Hosted by WIOCC Google, Equiano cable landing will create over 2.6m jobs for Nigerians, and as well boost the country’s GDP by 10.1bn by 2025.
Equiano cable which was named after a Nigerian born writer and abolitionist, Olaudah Equiano landed in Lagos on Thursday, April 21 2022 is the first truly landing cable in Africa with 20 wax power that is aimed at having a direct impact on connectivity that will help solve the problem of interrupted flow of internet in the country because of it’s fast internet speeds.
To further felicitate connectivity, Equiano has reduced internet retail prices by 21 percent, and increased internet penetration by six percent.
According to Google, Equiano is designed to start in Portugal in Western Europe, and run more than 12.00km along the West Coast of Africa and land in Lome Togo, Lagos, Nigeria; Swakopmund, Namibia; Rupert’s Bay, Saint Helena, and Melkbosstrand, South Africa with a valuable mew high capacity connection between African continent and Europe.
The Executive Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the launch stated “What we dreamt of in the past three years, to have a digital economy that will make Lagos a city to receive fiber connectivity that when gotten will get to other parts of the country is today becoming a reality by this phase 1 infrastructure, Equiano Cable.
“I am happy that the country is moving from an oil investment state to a digital economy. This investment today will attract foreign investors, such as content developers, etc. It is a significant development that Google views Nigeria in its plans”
He assured WIOCC that the federal government is in tune and aware of what they are doing as well assured them of security and support, ”The Elewuchi’s royal family is here. This shows that we support and will protect your work” he said.
Also, Chief Executive officer of WIOCC, Chris Wood said that he is 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.
He explained that hyperscale connectivity needs to be extended from the Lagos area to the rest of the country for the benefits to be felt throughout Nigeria.
He disclosed that WIOCC is also deploying a comprehensive, hyperscale national fiber network which 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”.
“Everything has changed in the last two years of Covid 19 pandemic, in business, career, education, friendship, etc, and over the next three years, we will be creating more than we have not created in the last 30 years,” he stated.
To enhance the connectivity, Wood urged companies to connect to the cable, adding that they will be partnering with Telecom companies to make it work and spread across.
Also, Director, West Africa at Google, Juliet Ehimuan said: “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.”
“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 honoring our commitment to being part of Africa’s digital transformation,” she added.
