Nigeria has something to cheer about after news broke that American tech company, Google snubbed Africa’s largest economy to establish its first Africa product development centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
The tech giant announced on Thursday, the arrival of its subsea cable, Equiano, in Lagos, Nigeria.
The announcement was made by Google’s West Africa Director, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, who revealed that the cable landed in Lagos, Nigeria today, making it its second successful landing in Africa after it reached Togo last month.
The Director further explained that the arrival of the cable became necessary as internet penetration in Nigeria remains despite the country being Africa’s largest economy. She noted that “landing this cable comes as part of critical stages leading up to its deployment later this year”
“Nigeria is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy. Still, the share of people using the internet stood at approximately 35% as of 2020 – double what it was in 2012. Across much of the country, people lack affordable, reliable & quality access, which limits their ability to benefit from, and contribute to, the digital economy.” Ehimuan remarked.
“Since 2017, the Nigerian government has been actively working on its digital transformation programs as part of plans to grow its domestic sectors.
“These initiatives have proven pivotal to the success of many industries in the country, especially the start-up space. In the last five years, start-ups in Nigeria have produced five unicorns (start-ups valued at over a billion dollars). Businesses are also benefiting significantly from the usage of internet platforms, with total e-commerce annual expenditure predicted to climb to $75 billion by 2025, up from its current projection of US $12 billion.
“With Equiano (the subsea cable), we look forward to being an even more integral part of the digital transformation journey in Nigeria.” She concludes.
News about the Nigerian government’s willingness to collaborate with Google broke last week as a government agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) expressed determination to work together with Google Global Services Nigeria towards advancing the actualization of national targets for ubiquitous broadband access, in furtherance of Nigeria’s digital transformation policy.