West African Countries Suffer Internet Disruptions Due to Undersea Cable Damage

Since Thursday, March 14th, 2024, many parts of the West African countries have faced major internet disruptions because the undersea cables have been badly damaged.

These cables are crucial for internet connections in the area, and their damage has caused issues for people and businesses that depend a lot on online services.

Causes and Impacts

Multiple undersea cables have encountered issues, affecting a large area.

The West African Cable System (WACS), African Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and South Atlantic 3 (SAT3) are among the impacted systems.

These cables carry a significant amount of internet traffic for West African countries, and their problems are causing widespread issues.

Nations such as Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Liberia are facing the brunt of the impact.

They are dealing with slow internet speeds, on-and-off connections, and sometimes even total internet blackouts.

Business and Daily Life Affected by the Disruptions

The internet being down has been causing a lot of problems in different areas.

Businesses that use online services for transactions, communication, and cloud-based tools have been facing difficulties.

For example, banks are having trouble with online banking, making it hard for customers to do transactions.

Moreover, people who rely on the internet for work, learning, and staying in touch are also affected.

Social media sites, messaging apps, and video calls are not working for many people, making it tough to communicate and get work done.

Investigating the Reason for Damage

The reason for the damage to the undersea cable is currently being investigated.

Although deliberate harm has not been completely ruled out, early reports indicate that accidental factors such as ship anchors might have caused the disruptions.

Efforts to fix the damage are ongoing, with teams from cable operators working to find the exact locations of the damage and start the repair work.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has promised the public that service providers are striving to restore connectivity promptly.

Read More: War-torn Sudan Turns to Starlink to Beat Internet Disruptions

Emphasizing Weaknesses and Importance of Backup Systems

This event shows how important undersea cables are for West Africa’s digital networks.

The disruptions highlight how vulnerable the region is to such incidents.

Experts say it’s crucial to invest more in creating backup options in the current cable network.

Finding different paths and setting up spare connections would help reduce the effects of any future cable issues.

Planning for the Future: Getting Back Online and Finding Solutions

As work is being done to restore internet services, it’s important to think about the long-term effects of this outage on the economy.

Businesses that depend on the internet may experience financial difficulties because of the disruption.

Once internet access is back to normal, it’s essential to investigate what caused the damage.

This will help in taking steps to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future.

Additionally, it’s crucial to focus on strengthening and expanding the undersea cables in West Africa.

This will make sure that the region has a more stable and secure internet network.