Africa's tech explosion promises economic growth

The map shows the 14 undersea fibre-optic cables that will link the continent's internet service providers to the servers of Europe and Asia by mid-2012, increasing the capacity of its cable internet connections almost three-fold from today and nearly 300-fold from 2009.

The cables are drawn in different colours and in thicknesses that represent their capacity - from the thin gray line showing the 120-gigabit cable that was Africa's only fibre optic link in January 2009, to the broad orange swath showing a 5,120-gigabit cable set to launch in 2012.

With its violet, yellow and orange cables swooping down the continent's west side and its blue, brown and red lines tracing the northern and eastern coasts, the map looks like an expressionist painter's vision of Africa.

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