• Google will set up four infrastructure hubs in Africa to connect new submarine cables.
• The hubs will link Equiano and Umoja cables, adding landing stations and data centers.
• The project, funded by Google, will be completed within three years to cut internet costs.

Google plans to install four infrastructure hubs in Africa to connect its new submarine fiber optic cables and improve internet access, the company’s Africa chief, Alex Okosi, announced on September 18.

Okosi told Bloomberg TV they plan to create four infrastructure hubs in Africa to link “our latest submarine fiber optic cables”. These cables must be carried to local markets to maximize opportunities for Google’s partners, especially telecom operators, and lower the cost of internet access.

The hubs will strengthen connectivity and help unlock new opportunities driven by artificial intelligence, he added, noting that Google will finance the project.

The hubs will connect cables in North, West, South, and East Africa and include key infrastructure such as landing stations and data centers. As part of the plan, Google will link its two new cables, Equiano and Umoja, to the continent this year.

The hubs are expected to be completed within the next three years, and could make it cheaper for potential partners such as as telecommunications companies MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd. to offer broadband to customers, he said.

He also highlighted that Africa represents “huge opportunities” in AI. “For us, it is about how to invest in Africa to realize the opportunities offered by AI,” he said, adding that Alphabet Inc.’s subsidiary has already “definitely surpassed the $1 billion it pledged to spend in Africa in 2021 over the subsequent five years.”

Africa is increasingly attracting investment from global tech giants. Microsoft recently announced a $1 billion geothermal-powered data center in Kenya, along with a $300 million plan in South Africa to expand its AI and cloud computing capacity. Nvidia has also partnered with Cassava Technologies, owned by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, to build the continent’s first AI factory.