In June 2019, Google announced that it would be investing in another private international subsea cable — Equiano — its third private subsea cable after
Curie (completed in 2019), and
Dunant (completed in 2020). The cable, linking Europe with western and southern Africa, was named for
Olaudah Equiano, a writer and abolitionist born in present-day
Nigeria. The cable was built and laid by
Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks (ASN). Equiano is viewed as part of Google’s five-year, $1 billion plan that aims to boost digital services across Africa. According to the managing director for Google in Africa, Nitin Gajria, Equiano's capacity is roughly 20 times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve the west coast of Africa. An October 2021 report commissioned by Google also claimed that the cable could create up to 1.6 million jobs due to a drop in data prices, and subsequent expansion of the
digital economy. The cable landed in Togo on Friday 18 March 2022. The first shore landing was on Saint Helena in 2021, making it the first undersea cable to connect the island to the Internet, which previously only used satellite links. Google and cable landing partner
WIOCC announced the landing of Equiano subsea cable at Lagos, Nigeria on 21 April 2022. The Equiano subsea cable landed at California Beach near the cable landing station at Sesimbra, Portugal on May 25, 2022. The cable landed in Namibia on 1 July 2022. Finally, the Equiano subsea cable landed at the Melkbosstrand Cable Landing Station about 35 km north of Cape Town, South Africa on 8 August 2022. == Partners ==