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Togo becomes first in Africa to be connected to Equinao subsea cable

President Faure Gnassingbé inaugurated the subsea cable on Friday at the autonomous port of Lomé. Picture: XLR Media

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In collaboration with Google, Société d’Infrastructures Numériques (SIN) and CSquared, Togo became last week the first landing point of the Equiano subsea cable in Africa. President Faure Gnassingbé inaugurated it on Friday at the autonomous port of Lomé.

The cable is part of Google’s $1bn plan to build African digital capacity, and will also land in Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa later this year. The landing in Nigeria is scheduled in April 2022, according to sources within Google that Hawilti spoke to.

Equinao was first introduced by Google in 2019 and will ultimately run from Europe to Africa via Portugal. While Nigeria was initially set to be its first landing point, Togo made a successful case to Google since then that Equinao should have a landing point in the country. The country of 8m was already the first in West Africa to launch a 5G network in 2020.

This new cable is fully funded by Google, making it its third private international cable after Dunant (USA-France) and Curie (USA-Chile), and its 14th subsea cable investment globally. It is named after Olaudah Equiano, a Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist who was enslaved as a boy.

Equiano is based on space-division multiplexing (SDM) technology and will offer 20 times more bandwidth than any other cable currently serving West Africa, and result in affordable internet access for millions in the region. Research commissioned by Google expects the cable to help a country like Togo double internet speeds within three years and reduce internet prices by 14%.

“We strive to be a digital hub for innovation and investment as we demonstrate our commitment to enhancing public and social services for all of our citizens. This historic moment will boost economic growth in Togo too, creating 37,000 new jobs between 2022 and 2025 and increasing economic output by an additional $351 million,” said Cina Lawson, Minister of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation of Togo.

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Algeria: significant onshore oil & gas discovery by Sonatrach and Eni

On Sunday, Italian major Eni and national oil company Sonatrach have announced a new significant onshore oil and associated gas discovery in their Zemlet el Arbi concession within the HDLE prospect. This is the first of five exploratory wells planned in the Berjine North Basin in the Algerian desert. The concession is operated by their joint-venture, with Sonatrach holding 51% and Eni the remaining 49%. “Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery are around 140 million barrels of oil in place,” Eni said in a statement. Both company have already declared that they would fast-track the field’s development for a start-up in Q3 2022. The HDLE-1 discovery is located about 15km from the Bir Rebaa North field processing facilities. The well discovered light oil in the Triassic sandstones of Tagi Formation, confirming 26 m of net pay with excellent petrophysical characteristics. Its production test delivered 7,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 5 MMscfd of gas. “The discovery will be quickly appraised with the drilling of a second well, HDLE-2, in April 2022 to confirm the additional potential of the structure extending in the adjacent Sif Fatima 2 concession operated by an Eni-Sonatrach JV (50-50%),” Eni added.

Eraskon Nigeria breaks ground on new industrial manufacturing complex

During a grand ceremony held in Yenagoa earlier today, Eraskon Nigeria has officially broken ground on its 64,000 litres per day lubricants blending plant at Gbarain in Bayelsa State. The groundbreaking was preceded by a ceremony marking the launch of the company’s new ERASKO GOLD lubricants products line. Both functions were attended by key Nigerian officials, including former President Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan and Engr. Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB). Eraskon Nigeria is the company executing the project as a joint-venture between ERASKORP Nigeria and the NCDMB. The facility is expected to be commissioned in December 2022 and will help in meeting increasing domestic demand for high quality lubricants, engine oil, transmission fuels, engine coolers and specialty products such as waxes. “Nigeria consumes 800 million litres of engine oil and lubricants every year and its consumption continues to grow by 5% per annum,” said Engr. Simbi Wabote during the ceremony in Yenagoa. “Nigeria’s in-country blending capacity stands at only 150 million litres so we have a huge gap that remains met by imports,” he added. “Eraskon Nigeria’s project will result in the building of a world-class facility producing a range of high-quality lubricants for the Nigerian market,” declared Maxwell Oko, Vice Chairman and CEO at ERASKORP. “This plant is the first step in realizing our vision to build an industrial conglomerate in the Niger Delta,” he added. The lubricants blending plant is being built on 8ha of land, out of a total 50ha acquired around Shell’s Gbarain gas hub. The company envisions to further integrate its operations in the future by producing drilling and production chemicals, turbine oil and house products such as detergents and aerosols. Gbrain is increasingly emerging as a local content hub housing some of Nigeria’s newest energy infrastructure. The 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) Azikel Refinery is currently nearing completion at the same location, while Rungas expects to commission its LPG composite cylinder manufacturing unit there as well this year.