US takes China rivalry over African influence underwater, with high-speed internet cable spanning continents

US-China tussle reaches critical digital infrastructure, as Washington warns world against Chinese dominance and alleged spying

New US-funded Southeast Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 6 submarine line comes in response to Chinese-led transcontinental Peace cable

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African markets need cloud computing services at ever increasing rates. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:30pm, 14 Aug 2022

Washington is funding the laying of a major undersea fibre optic cable system that will connect Africa to the rest of the world, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has revealed.

Blinken’s announcement in South Africa, during a three-nation tour of the continent last week, comes as US-China rivalry heats up over control of critical communication infrastructure, with America warning the world against Chinese digital dominance and alleged espionage aims.

Stretching across 17,000km (10,560 miles), from Southeast Asia through the Middle East and onwards to the Horn of Africa and Europe, the US-funded submarine cable line will deliver high-speed connectivity to more than a dozen countries across continents.

US telecoms company SubCom has won the US$600 million contract under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure (PGII) Initiative, launched by President Joe Biden with Group of Seven leaders in June as a counterpoint to China’s transcontinental Belt and Road Initiative.

The Southeast Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) submarine telecoms cable is one of the flagship projects of the US$600 billion PGII, for which Washington aims to mobilise another US$200 billion over the next five years.

“The way this infrastructure is built will reverberate for decades,” Blinken said in Pretoria, South Africa, on August 8.

“After all, we’ve seen the consequences when international infrastructure deals are corrupt and coercive, when they’re poorly built or environmentally destructive, when they import or abuse workers, or burden countries with crushing debts,” he said, in an apparent swipe at China’s belt and road plan.