Meta has announced that its undersea cable from the 2Africa project will land in Nigeria by February this year. The 2Africa is an international submarine telecommunications cable that circumnavigates the coastline of Africa to interconnect Europe and the Middle East.
Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, disclosed this during the opening of the new American Corner in Lekki, Lagos recently.
Mr. Blinken identified the cable project as one of the many ways American companies are supporting President Bola Tinubu to achieve his goal of creating one million digital jobs.
The 45,000 km 2Africa undersea cable is touted as the world’s largest undersea cable. The deep-sea cable project will encircle Africa when complete and is expected to land in Lagos and Kwa Ibo, a river town in Nigeria’s southeast.
While highlighting the roles of American companies and American interests in Nigeria’s economy, the U.S. Secretary of State said, “Now, what I’m seeing and what I’m feeling is that there is growing and significant American interest here in working in Nigeria, in investing in Nigeria, partnering with Nigerians. And we see many American companies, some of them present here, who are already working to help meet President Tinubu’s goal of one million digital jobs.
“The world’s largest subsea cable is on its way. It will reach Lagos next month. And as I’ve looked at the numbers, more than a quarter of American venture capital coming to Africa is coming to Nigeria.” He added
Blinken, however, noted that there are challenges that still need to be addressed to make Nigeria the most inviting business environment.
He said he talked about the issues when he met with the leadership of the Nigerian government.
