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Openserve Connects Google’s Equiano Cable to South Africa

August 26, 2022

Openserve, one of South Africa’s largest network infrastructure providers, announced that it has facilitated the landing of the Equiano subsea cable, the world’s largest undersea cable that runs along the west coast of Africa, from Europe to Melkbosstrand, Cape Town.

The Google Equiano undersea cable system arrived at the Openserve cable station facility in Melkbosstrand on Monday, 8 August 2022.

Nitin Gajria, Google Sub-Saharan Africa MD on the landing of Equiano in South Africa

Openserve’s cable station facility will serve as the SA landing station and will offer terrestrial services, connecting the cable landing to South African carrier-neutral data centres.

“The landing of the Equiano undersea cable marks a significant moment for the SA telecommunications industry,” says Althon Beukes, Openserve CEO.

With the landing, Openserve will now have access to a new submarine system offering connectivity to Europe which will provide additional diversity for international communications.

In the initial design, Openserve will have 12Tbp capacity, with current technology and 16Tbps will be possible with upgrades.

“The arrival of Equiano will also have a meaningful impact on the domestic economy through encouraging digital inclusion by making connectivity accessible to more South Africans,” Beukes adds.

Equiano runs from Western Europe, along the west coast of Africa to South Africa. Equiano is the first submarine cable to incorporate optical switching at the fibre-pair level as opposed to the traditional approach of wavelength-level switching.

The private undersea cable has a capacity of 144 Terabytes per second, which is 20 times the capacity of the last cable built to serve the region. In July, Equiano landed in Swakopmund, Namibia. The cable stretches from the coast of Portugal with landing stations in St Helena Island, Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa as the final point.

“We are committed to supporting Africa’s digital transformation and we are excited by the possibilities brought about by the arrival of the Equiano subsea cable to its final destination. We have partnered with Telkom/Openserve on this initiative and hope it will be a great catalyst to help grow the economy,” commented Nitin Gajria, Google Sub-Saharan Africa MD on the landing of Equiano in South Africa.

The increased connectivity capacity that Equiano brings is expected to yield significant benefits for the relevant countries. This includes increased broadband penetration and higher internet usage.

This will subsequently create economic benefits through the growth of the Information communications technology industry and the digital economy.

The Google Equiano undersea cable is expected to be operational at some point in 2022.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Google to Invest $1 Billion in Airtel Group

January 28, 2022

Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc’s will invest up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel in a move that could help bolster the telecom operator’s digital offerings. The investment includes a $700 million equity investment in Airtel at a price of $9.77 per share and up to $300 million towards implementing commercial agreements, including investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings, the companies said.

The share issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and comes months after Airtel raised up to Rs 21,000 crore through a sale of shares to existing shareholders. Airtel shares were up 0.54% at Rs 711 after the announcement.

Google announced plans less than two years ago to infuse $10 billion in India via its digitisation fund over five to seven years through equity deals and tie-ups.

Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd’s digital unit Jio Platforms, which houses Airtel’s telecom rival Jio, received an investment of $4.5 billion from Google in July 2020. In return, the US tech behemoth got a seat on Jio’s board.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

How African Startups Can Apply For The 2022 Edition Of Google Startup Accelerator

November 7, 2021

Applications now are open for the 2022 edition of the Google Startup Accelerator. This is according to an announcement by Google. The upcoming three-month virtual accelerator program is open to eligible startups located in Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

From March to May 2022, they will benefit from virtual bootcamps which will be held for one week per month. Google will also provide them with mentoring and product support. Startups will also have access to the company’s capital-free support.

2022 Google Startup Accelerator — Andy Volk is Head of Africa, Ecosystem for Sub-Saharan Africa at Google. Image credits: Andy Volk

Google is making the announcement months after pledging $6 million in grants and support to the Black Founders Fund (BFF) Africa and the Tony Elumelu Foundation to help grow the startup ecosystem in Africa.

“We are honored to have yet another opportunity to connect with and empower African innovators through the seventh class of GFSAA. We know that, as with previous courses, we are poised to discover exceptional technological solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, developed by Africans themselves,” said Andy Volk, Head of Africa’s Efforts and ecosystem of Google developers and startups in sub-Saharan Africa.

How To Apply

Interested startups may check out the website below: https://startup.google.com/accelerator/africa/

2022 Google Startup Accelerator. 2022 Google Startup Accelerator.

A Wave Of Frauds Grips Fintech Unicorn, Wave, In Senegal

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning write

Google extends Policy on Storage Limit till February 2022

April 8, 2021

Global tech giant, Google has said that every day, files with sizes of more than 4.3 million gigabytes are added across its products like Drive, Gmail and Photos straining existing capacity and also pushing it to look for more innovative ways to manage the challenge. This was responsible for the announcement late last year by Google that 15GB is the storage càp for G Suite (now called Google Workspace).

But in a new twist, the tech giant has reversed itself by postponing its planned policy aimed at counting some of its products including Sheets, Forms, Docs, Slides created by users of Workspace to February 2022. This planned update also included Google Photos too with the changes to take effect from Tuesday, June 1, 2021. However, Google announced a delay on the proposed update to affect only Docs and similar productivity tools.

This delay in no way affects the update on Google Photos because from June 1 as earlier stated, users won’t be permitted to keep high-resolution images for free. According to its blog post comment, Google reveals that: “Any newly created Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, or Jamboard files will count toward storage. Existing files within these products will not count toward storage, unless they’re modified on or after February 1, 2022,”

Presently, G Suite products don’t impact cloud storage space, but the tech giant has however decided to stop the benefits so as to make space for an increase in demand for its online tools. Only users with G Suite and Google Workspace accounts will enjoy this delay. Owning a personal Google account doesn’t make you qualify for this delayed update.

So as it stands, G Suite products files created through personal accounts will have their 15GB storage capacity counted for from June 1.

The blog post also reads that the delay with the policy is a result of trying to empower the adaptability of its Workspace admins. By the implementation, the admins will be able to optimize their storage capacity ahead of the new proposed date.

The tech giant will also offer new tools for the admins to support Enterprise customers in identifying and managing storage usage and its allocation before implementing the policy.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Google Expands Kenya’s Accelerator Program, Donates $5m To Startups

February 1, 2021

This year, Kenyan startups have a new deal, courtesy of tech giant Google. According the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, during a virtual meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, Google will expand its Google for Startups Accelerator program this year by supporting 100,000 businesses and 15,000 developers in Kenya. Also on the table is a new $10 million ( KES 11 billion) grant package from the company which includes $3 million to support small businesses, $5 million for Kenyan startups and $2 million for charity.

“Thank you and your team for being very close collaborators with Kenya over the years. We started our journey some almost two decades ago to try and start moving into the digital world,” President Uhuru said to Sundar Pichai. “You have been a good part of that journey. A journey that has enabled many Kenyans through the use of technology and digitization to access financial services, knowledge and to enhance their business capacities.”

Google also intends to train Kenyan 29,000 students and 1,800 teachers on remote learning using its Google Classroom platform.

Last year, the east African country proposed a Startup Act. Although similar plans are already being mulled by other African countries, the new bill before Kenya’s national parliament, once approved, will make the country the number three in Africa with a Startup Act.

The latest move by Google is coming on the heels of the most recent shut down of the Loon project in Kenya. Loon is a subsidiary company of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Google’s intention with the Loon project was to supply internet from the sky to earth with balloons. President Uhuru, last year, announced that the Loon project would be commercially rolled out in Kenya this year.

“When we unveiled Loon in June 2013, we meant everything in its name,” writes Astro Teller, in charge of Loon’s operations, in a long Medium article, bidding the Loon project goodbye. “It was a way-out-there and risky venture. Not just fragile-balloons-on-the-edge-of-space risky, but risky at the core of the question it was asking. Could this be the radical idea that might finally bring abundant, affordable Internet access, not just to the next billion, but to the last billion? To the last unconnected communities and those least able to pay?

“Sadly, despite the team’s groundbreaking technical achievements over the last 9 years — doing many things previously thought impossible, like precisely navigating balloons in the stratosphere, creating a mesh network in the sky, or developing balloons that can withstand the harsh conditions of the stratosphere for more than a year — the road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped. So we’ve made the difficult decision to close down Loon,” he said.

One of the most interesting projects I have had the pleasure of working on was Project Loon🎈 for Kenya
A network of giant balloons to bring internet access to remote regions of rural Kenya. #loonforall pic.twitter.com/8xtMbYz7o9
— Hantz Févry (@hantzfevry) October 16, 2018

What a flying Loon looks like. Loon has the capacity to supply high-speed internet on the go.

The Loon project was approved in 2018 by Kenya’s Communications Authority.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Kenya Google startups

New Report From Google Says Africa’s Internet Economy Would Be Worth $180 Billion By 2025

November 13, 2020

Yesterday, Google and the International Finance Corporation published a report entitled e-Conomy Africa 2020. It estimates that the economy of the African continent could gain 180 billion dollars by 2025 thanks to two things: greater access to a fast and quality Internet connection, as well as the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area project.

*Nitin Gajria, Google Director for Sub-Saharan Africa*

“Google and IFC have created this report to highlight the role that the digital startup industry plays and other factors driving the continent’s growth, in order to showcase and support the opportunities that the continent presents,” Nitin Gajria, Google Director for Sub-Saharan Africa said. “For Africa, continuing this momentum requires investment in infrastructure, consumption of digital services, public and private investment, and new government policies and regulations.”

Google E-conomy report Africa Google E-conomy report Africa

Here Is What You Need To Know

The report indicates that the internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2% of Africa’s GDP. When the projection is extended to 2050, its contribution exceeds the $ 700 billion mark. In the short term, i.e. by the end of the year, Accenture (study contributor) expects i-GDP to be worth $ 115 billion, or 4.5% of total GDP ($ 2,544 billion). In 2019, it represented 3.9% of the economy with $ 99.7 billion.
Among other factors behind this growth, the report cites the rapidity of urbanization, the growing pool of technological talent, and the dynamism of the startup ecosystem.
To read more of the report, click here.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Standard Bank Partners Mastercard and Google on SME Digital Platform

October 29, 2020

Suzanne Morel, Country Manager, Mastercard, South Africa.

Three global brands have signed a memorandum of understanding to help small and medium enterprises to accelerate their digital footprints to wither the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This collaboration comes as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) accelerate digital transformation efforts in response to the pandemic, thus this collaboration between Standard Bank, Mastercard and Google aims to help them move their businesses online, accept digital payments and attract more customers.

Through the collaboration, SMEs can get free access to Standard Bank’s SimplyBlu, an all-in-one e-commerce solution powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services, plus free Google Ads to the value of R500. These capabilities have been packaged as a bundled solution to help support business owners to tackle the economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As one of South Africa’s leading financial service providers, Standard Bank is acutely aware that small businesses play an important role in driving economic growth and generating employment opportunities. Our strategic relationships with leading brands such as Mastercard and Google ensure that we are able to support small businesses and offer our clients tangible benefits that add real value,” says Nelisa Zulu from Standard Bank.

Launched in 2019, SimplyBlu enables SMEs to create an online presence through the plug-and-play e-commerce store builder, which is interfaced with an instant online checkout. Taking skill levels and resource constraints into account, the platform has been designed in such a way that users can set it up and start accepting payments in a matter of minutes.

“We recognise the overwhelming pressure that small business owners are currently facing and are committed to supporting them through COVID-19 and beyond as they adapt to a new way of operating and evolved customer needs. Through this collaboration, our mission is to help as many SMEs with tools and support to expand their digital capabilities and take their operations to the next level,” says Suzanne Morel, Country Manager, Mastercard, South Africa.

With Google Ads, SMEs can get access to a digital marketing channel that will further help them in driving increased website visits to grow online sales, bookings or mailing list signups; more phone calls and customer interest queries; as well as more in store visits.

“Small businesses have been hardest hit during this period. Many of them have had to figure out quickly how to pivot their operations to a ‘digital-first’ approach. Yet, there remains a gap between those who can access these online opportunities and those who can’t. That’s the gap we want to bridge with this collaboration,” says Google South Africa Country Director Alistair Mokoena.

This is even as eCommerce has been a boon for small businesses over the last few months, largely due to consumer’s rapid adoption of online shopping and digital services as they opt to shop from the safety of their homes. “eCommerce is a powerful tool for small businesses – be it retail operators or merchants offering services ranging from home maintenance to professional services. Our SimplyBlu platform has seen over 100 percent growth during the COVID-19 period, with business owners increasingly realising the benefits of operating their businesses on online platforms,” says Zulu.

Candy Smith, a fashion designer, opened an online shop using SimplyBlu, where she built a face mask-making business. In early March, she was selling more than 200 masks a day. By the end of May, she reached over 1,500 masks a day for individual sales and secured corporate orders of 10,000 masks at a time.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom Terminate Huawei’s Android licences — What This Means

May 21, 2019

The trade war between the US and China means that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China is the latest victim.

Google has just announced it has cut off Huawei’s Android licence, a move which would have serious implications for the manufacturer’s smartphone business.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications. For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,”Google said in a statement which attributes the revocation of the licence to compliance with US government policy

What This Means

The short term implication of this is that Huawei will lose access to Android updates, which means that existing Huawei smartphones will not be able to receive any official Android OS updates going forward.

Huawei will only be able to use the open-source version of Android and will lose access to proprietary apps and services from Google.

While the Chinese manufacturer can still use the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) licence to develop its software, this licence however, does not encompass applications such as Gmail, YouTube, and the Chrome browser.

These applications require a commercial agreement with Google and are available to download through the Google Play Store. These are what Google has blocked.

Intel, Others Follow Suit With Google

Among the four chipmakers, Intel is Huawei’s primary supplier of chips used in its data centers.

Additionally, Intel also provides processors for Huawei’s Matebook series of laptops.

Qualcomm sells it Snapdragon SoCs for various entry-level devices like the Honor 8C as well as some network chips.

Qualcom also licenses aptX codec for Bluetooth audio to Huawei.

Meanwhile, Xilinx provides programmable chips for networking while Broadcom supplies packet switching chips for telecom equipment.

In all, there are more than 30 companies in the U.S. considered as “core suppliers” by the company, and all of them are likely to follow the same route.

Huawei would lose all that bar for green Android with this new development

What This Means For African Businesses

The implication of this move by Google is that African businesses and other western markets using Huawei products could lose access to YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, and other popular apps on their Android smartphones, which are the proprietary rights of Google. This could be devastating for users in the Western markets where Huawei operates.

However, it is still uncertain how Huawei adjust its platform to tackle this the suspension of its Android licence.

Huawei may opt to migrate its devices to its own proprietary operating system, which it confirmed it has been developing in case it loses access to Android.

However, moving to this new operating system would not affect China so much, because most Google applications are banned are already banned there and users have since adopted Chinese equivalents.

Huawei has greatly expanded its presence in the African market, with its devices proving extremely popular due to their lower prices and solid design.

However, regardless of whether Huawei decides to migrate to its backup OS or stay with an open-source version of Android, its Android licence suspension will have a significant impact on Huawei users in South Africa.

This termination may give rise to serious trust issues against the Chinese companies. American spy chiefs in a classified info hinted that “The Chinese government and Communist party pose the greatest long-term threat to US economic and national security. It’s important that US companies, universities, and trade organizations understand fully that threat.”

Image result for smartphone African market share

Huawei Responds To The Ban

In a response, Huawei says

“Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.

Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.

We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.”

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Afrikan Heroes

Tag: Google

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Here Is What You Need To Know

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Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom Terminate Huawei’s Android licences — What This Means

What This Means

Intel, Others Follow Suit With Google

What This Means For African Businesses

Huawei Responds To The Ban

Charles Rapulu Udoh

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