China’s Peace cable linking Europe and Africa arrives in Kenya
- The digital ‘expressway’ starts in Pakistan and will eventually reach France
- The involvement of the Chinese tech giant Huawei has caused concern in the United States
China’s plans to build an information “expressway” connecting China, Europe and Africa have taken a step forward with the arrival of an undersea cable in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
The Pakistan & East Africa Connecting Europe (Peace) cable is part of Beijing’s Digital Silk Road initiative and will also connect Pakistan, Cyprus, Egypt, France, and Malta.
Oliver Zheng, the chief executive of the company managing the project, said the 15,000km (9,300-mile) project would be completed within “the next few months”.
“We are delighted to announce that Peace has now entered the final stage for the entire delivery and will be put into commercial use soon this year,” Zheng said at an event in Mombasa to mark the landing of the cable.
The submarine cable starts in Gwadar and Karachi in Pakistan, and passes through various sites in Africa, including Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia and Egypt, to end in Marseilles, France. It will be extended to Singapore and South Africa in the second phase.
The project, which has Huawei as one of the shareholders, caused disquiet in Washington, especially during Donald Trump’s administration, which feared that Beijing would use the technology to spy on its systems.