Google LLC announced today that it plans to invest $1 billion in the continent of Africa in an effort to give more people access to fast and cheap internet while investing some of the money in startups.

Nitin Gajria, managing director for Google in Africa, said the subsea cable will link Africa and Europe and should be in use in the latter part of 2022. That, he said, will increase internet speeds in Nigeria and greatly increase speeds in South Africa on top of reducing the cost of internet access for consumers.

“It’s been incredible to see the rapid pace of change in a short amount of time, and be a partner on that journey,” Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said at a virtual event. ”Since we opened our first offices in Africa, we’ve enabled 100 million Africans to access the internet for the first time and empowered millions of businesses and creators with digital tools.”

Google believes that over the next five years its project will create 1.7 million jobs in the countries of Nigeria and South Africa. Pichai said he hopes in that timeframe 300 million more Africans will get online, many of whom, he said, will be “young, creative and entrepreneurial.”

Some $50 million will go to startups across the continent as part of the “Africa Investment Fund.” Google will provide access to its “employees, network, and technologies to help them build meaningful products for their communities.” A further $10 million will be offered in low-interest loans for entrepreneurs in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

“In 2017, we committed to help 10 million Africans get the digital skills they need to grow their careers and businesses,” said Pichai. “So far, we’ve trained 6 million people. We’ve also trained 80,000 developers from every country in Africa and supported more than 80 startups to raise global venture capital funding, creating thousands of jobs.”

Fifty startups have already been chosen as part of the investment fund, with each receiving $50,000 in capital as well as credits for Google products and support from the company. Google said these startups are based in nine countries, 40% of the companies led by women.

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