Faster Internet coming to Africa with Facebook’s US$1bil cable

A woman wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, holds her child whilst using a mobile phone on the sidewalk in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. Facebook has long tried to lead the race to improve connectivity in Africa in a bid to take advantage of a young population, greater connectivity and the increasing availability and affordability of smartphones. — AP

Facebook Inc and some of the world’s largest telecom carriers including China Mobile Ltd are joining forces to build a giant sub-sea cable to help bring more reliable and faster Internet across Africa.

The cost of the project will be just under US$1bil (RM4.33bil), according to three people familiar with the project, who asking not to be identified as the budget hasn’t been made public. The 37,000-kilometer (23,000 miles) long cable – dubbed 2Africa – will connect Europe to the Middle East and 16 African countries, according to a statement on May 14.