In order to allow more African residents to access the world's Internet, at a public event last year, the world search giant Google announced that it will invest $1 billion in the next five years to promote africa's digital transformation and provide local residents with Internet access services that are fast enough and cheap enough.
Just recently, the first branch of the Google Equiano submarine Internet cable (Lisbon, Portugal - Kepler, South Africa) will land in Lomé, the capital of the West African country of Togo.
For a country where one-third of its citizens are still not connected to the Internet, the significance of access to this Internet cable is enormous.
They expect the cable to be opened to provide 37,000 jobs and contribute about $351 million to Togo's economic growth over the next five years.
Around 2018, many countries in Africa have proposed digital transformation strategies, because of the low starting point, Africa is currently the fastest growing region in the communications industry, it is expected that by 2025, Africa's mobile Internet users will increase by 471 million people, and with the advantage of population, the number of African Internet users is likely to be second only to the Asia-Pacific region, ranking second among the five continents.
That's why Google is so enthusiastic about the development of Africa's digital economy, and in essence, it can get a lot of business expansion opportunities through Digital Transformation in Africa.
Of course, compared with domestic enterprises, Google's layout in Africa is still in its infancy, and now, 70% of Africa's 4G network equipment relies on Chinese-funded enterprises, and Chinese companies have been helping Africa to carry out digital transformation, such as Huawei and ZTE in more than 30 African countries, building more than 50 mobile networks.
Perhaps, behind Google's active layout in Africa, it has been inspired by China's aid to Africa.