Several major submarine cable cuts in the Red Sea on Thursday led to widespread service disruptions in Nigeria and several African countries, including Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Liberia, as well as some parts of South Africa. The damage affected internet services in the affected countries, causing significant inconvenience to users.
The impacted submarine cable, originating from Europe and passing through the East Coast of Africa, suffered a deep cut in the Red Sea. This incident affected other submarine cables connected to it, such as the West African Submarine Cable (WASC), African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable, and MainOne submarine cable, which have landing ducts on the shores of Nigeria.
Banks, Payment Service Banks (PSBs), schools, organizations, and agent banking outlets relying on internet services provided by MainOne submarine cable, WASC, and ACE submarine cables in Nigeria experienced severe disruptions on Thursday, as their customers were unable to access internet services.
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator, confirmed the cable cuts, attributing the disruptions to equipment faults on major undersea cables along the West African Coast. Countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire were adversely affected.
Repair efforts have been initiated by cable companies, including West African Cable System (WACS) and African Coast to Europe (ACE), to address the faults. SAT3 and MainOne also reported downtime due to the incidents.
While acknowledging the disruptions, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, reassured that Nigeria was not significantly impacted due to its multiple submarine cables from Europe and Asia. However, some ISPs in Nigeria experienced indirect connections to the affected cable, resulting in minor disruptions.
Adebayo dismissed speculation of sabotage, citing the technical challenges associated with damaging submarine cables located several kilometers below sea level. Investigation into the cause of the cuts is ongoing.
Submarine operators have communicated with customers about the disruptions and restoration efforts. 9PSB and MTN, among others, issued messages to customers, informing them of the ongoing resolution process and apologizing for the inconvenience.
Efforts are underway to restore services fully and minimize disruptions for affected users in Nigeria and other impacted African countries.
