Undersea cable cuts disrupt internet,telecom services across West Africa

Several countries in West Africa, such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote de Ivoire, are facing challenges due to a series of undersea cable cuts. These cables, crucial for internet and fixed telecom services, have experienced equipment faults along the West African Coast, leading to disruptions in connectivity.

The incidents occurred primarily in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, causing ripple effects that disrupted services even as far as Portugal. Major undersea cable companies like the West African Cable System (WACS) and African Coast to Europe (ACE) on the West Coast route from Europe have reported faults. Additionally, SAT3 and MainOne have encountered downtime, exacerbating the situation.

A recent report from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) highlights the impact of these disruptions. Internet access and speed have been notably affected in Nigeria and other affected West African nations. Repair efforts have commenced, with assurances from cable operators that services are gradually being restored. They have committed to working tirelessly to ensure prompt restoration of services across the affected countries.

The NCC stresses the importance of disseminating this information to both corporate entities and individual consumers reliant on these services. Meanwhile, similar undersea cables facilitating traffic between Europe and the East Coast of Africa, such as Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE1), have also suffered cuts, leading to service degradation along these routes.