Tech giants are lining up billions of shillings to pump into Africa with eyes on the millions of people expected to join them over the coming years. PHOTO | FILE | NMG Last week, global internet giants Google and Facebook laid down their infrastructure investment strategies in plans that will see hundreds of billions poured into the continent in the coming years.
Facebook has revealed the different technologies it has created to ensure that it reaches all corners of the continent, through its Inside the Lab programme targeting to get a billion extra users on its platforms.
Facebook is running a programme called Inside the Lab, whose target is to innovate in order to penetrate the untapped markets.
Africa’s internet market is up for a major scramble as global tech corporations rush to invest hundreds of billions of shillings, in the hunt for millions of Africans expected to join the online community over the next decade.
Last week, global internet giants Google and Facebook laid down their infrastructure investment strategies in plans that will see hundreds of billions poured into the continent in the coming years.
As Google said it will be investing about Sh110 billion ($1 billion) in Africa over the next five years, Facebook was revealing the different technologies it has created to ensure that it reaches all corners of the continent, through its Inside the Lab programme targeting to get a billion extra users on its platforms.
The pair has spent billions to create subsea cables connecting up to three continents, investments that are targeted to boost connectivity in Africa by at least three times internet quality compared to current levels, cut down prices and subsidise prices for devices used to access the web.
“We are building the longest subsea cable in the world using new technology that will help triple the amount of bandwith reaching the entire continent of Africa. We’ve even designed floating power stations that sit in the middle of the ocean, harnessing the power of the sun and the waves, delivering it to the cables in the ocean, allowing us to boost their capacity.
And we built a system that delivers internet speed for homes and businesses over the air, bypassing the need for cables altogether (Terragraph). It’s an amazing solution to the last mile connectivity problem, which is often the hardest to solve,” said Facebook’s Vice President in charge of Connectivity, Mr Dan Rabinovitsj. Heavy expenses
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