eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Zimbabwean businesses and individuals are set to benefit from improved connectivity following a ground-breaking achievement by Liquid Dataport, which has launched the first-ever connection between Mombasa and South Africa.
Liquid Dataport is a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies and a leading pan-African technology group.
This development includes a revolutionary fiber link across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), spanning from Goma to Katanga.
According to the company, the newly launched route will interconnect South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC, as the firm seeks to improve access to digital services for all Africans.
The new data superhighway not only provides enhanced redundancy and resilience but also connects landlocked countries to an extensive network of data centers, cloud resources, and serves as a vital alternative during subsea cable outages.
Cassava Technologies president and group chief executive Hardy Pemhiwa has expressed his enthusiasm for this significant milestone, stating that: “This achievement by Liquid Dataport reinforces our dedication to fostering a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.
“Through continuous investments in advancing our digital infrastructure, this route will not only provide increased access to high-speed connectivity but will also empower businesses to create and sustain millions of jobs, improving lives in the process.”
The exponential demand for connectivity across Africa can be directly attributed to the widespread adoption of digital technologies by enterprises. This escalating need for seamless connectivity has prompted service providers and international carriers like Liquid Dataport to address the growing demand promptly.
“This is the first terrestrial-only cable connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg via the DRC. It is the culmination of our substantial fiber infrastructure investments in multiple countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
“Through this innovative route, our existing and future customers will gain access to an intelligent network boasting enhanced resilience, low latency, and increased capacity; it was purposefully designed to deliver additional capacity to landlocked countries along the route, facilitating direct access to cloud resources within Africa and beyond,” said Liquid Dataport CEO David Eurin.
The newly established route offers direct connectivity to data centers in Johannesburg and Nairobi, catering to hyperscalers, enterprises, and wholesale carriers. Liquid Dataport’s investments in the Equiano sea cable, significant capacity on the PEACE and 2Africa undersea fiber cables, coupled with their extensive terrestrial cross-border broadband network, guarantee cost-effective international capacity for customers, enabling them to seamlessly land on both Kenyan and South African shores. This enables access to a wealth of cloud resources and opens up new avenues for innovation and growth across the African continent.
Liquid Dataport’s ambitious endeavor to create a terrestrial data superhighway connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg marks a pivotal moment in Africa’s digital infrastructure landscape. With improved connectivity, increased redundancy, and enhanced access to cloud resources, the continent is poised to thrive in the digital age, unlocking boundless opportunities for economic development and empowerment.
