Togo is the first African country to be connected to Google's Equiano submarine cable

ITC

Friday, 18 March 2022 16:33

Togo is the first African country to be connected to Google's Equiano submarine cable

(Togo First) - Today, Togo has inaugurated Google’s first African station of its new Equiano submarine cable. The inauguration ceremony took place at the Port of Lomé and was attended by many officials, including President Faure Gnassingbé himself.

“With this new submarine cable, we will be able to meet the needs of the government's roadmap for bolstering the international connection to the global network,” said Cina Lawson, Minister of Digital Economy and Technological Innovation, during the inauguration.

51 e1b1619fa8ef5a86afc2897413e7d5d L

In Togo, the Equiano Project is divided into two phases. The first focuses on laying the cable, while the second phase will focus on managing and selling international capacity to ISPs, both in Togo and neighboring countries. According to Lawson, the project would help lower internet prices in the region, in Togo especially.

52 e1b1619fa8ef5a86afc2897413e7d5d L

The two phases will be implemented by CSquared, a Mauritius-incorporated firm that specializes in selling international capacity (internet) on the wholesale market. With a capital of $100 million, CSquared is a JV owned by Google, Mitsui from Japan, South Africa's Convergence Partners Fund, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In Togo, Csquared teamed up with Société d'Infrastructures Numériques (SIN), a state-owned company created in 2016, to create CSquared Woezon. It is the latter that effectively maintains and operates the Equiano submarine cable as well as existing terrestrial fiber networks. SIN holds a 44% minority public stake in CSquared Woezon.

The Equiano submarine cable, let’s recall, is a new generation infrastructure that will run from Portugal to South Africa along the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean, connecting points such as Lomé (Togo), Lagos (Nigeria), Swakopmund (Namibia), and Cape Town (South Africa), with connections in place for the next phases of the project. The infrastructure is expected to provide approximately 20 times more network capacity than the last cables built to serve the continent.

Equiano is the second cable connecting Togo to the rest of the world, after the WACS cable.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

After moving from the 133rd to 127th place under the 2020 Doing Business’ construction permit index, Togo intends to reiterate this feat in the coming edition of the global ranking. To this end, it has introduced this year multiple reforms.

GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.