Google announces Umoja, first ever fibre optic cable connecting Africa to Australia

Google has said it plans to build a new fibre optic cable named Umoja to connect Africa to Australia.

According to a statement recently, Umoja will be the first ever fibre optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia.

Anchored in Kenya, Google said the Umoja cable route will transverse Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, including the Google Cloud region, before crossing the Indian Ocean into 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,” Google said.

Google expressed gratitude for the collaboration from leaders across Africa and Australia to deliver ‘Africa Connect’ to people, businesses and governments in Africa and around the world.

Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya, said access to cutting-edge technology, supported by reliable and resilient digital infrastructure, is critical to expanding 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,” Whitman said.

Also speaking on the feat, President of Kenya, Willaiam Ruto said the new intercontinental fibre optic route will significantly boost global and regional digital infrastructure.

He said: “This initiative is crucial in ensuring the redundancy and resilience of our region’s connectivity to the rest of the world, especially in light of recent disruptions caused by cuts to sub-sea cables.”

“By strengthening our digital backbone, we are not only improving reliability but also paving the way for increased digital inclusion, innovation and economic opportunities for our people and businesses.”

On her part, Michelle Rowland, Australian Minister for Communications, said diversifying Australia’s connectivity and supporting digital inclusion across the globe are both critical goals and Google’s Umoja cable would help to achieve both.

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