The rupture of several faulty submarine cables has caused major internet outages in Africa in recent days. Ivory Coast is the most affected country, but many other countries in the West and South of the continent are also affected.
Since Thursday morning, most of West Africa has been affected by major internet outages after the rupture of several submarine cables. Ivory Coast was the country most affected by these connectivity problems at the end of last week, but as reported 20 minutesLiberia, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso are also seriously affected.
West Africa facing internet outages
To a lesser extent, we learn that Togo, Cameroon, Gabon, Namibia and Niger are also disrupted, as are Nigeria and South Africa, according to data collected by NetBlocks, specializing in surveillance. access to the Internet across the world.
“ Breaks in multiple submarine cables have affected connectivity services in several West African countries », For its part commented MTN in a press release consulted by 20 minutes. The South African operator explained on March 14 that “ operations » were in progress to allow “ redirect traffic through alternative network routes “.
The main operators are concerned
In Ivory Coast, the first country affected by this internet outage, the two largest operators (Orange and MTN) are the most affected, which helps explain the scale of the phenomenon. The third local operator, Moov, is relatively spared. Its services were therefore operating normally at the end of last week, we read.
In South Africa, Internet users were also affected, but in a much less debilitating manner. “ Some customers are currently experiencing intermittent connectivity issues, including us », indicated the operator Vodacom on X.com, whose comments are once again reported to us by 20 Minutes.
As a reminder, one of the longest submarine fiber optic cables in the world connects Portugal to South Africa. Nicknamed “Equiano” and funded by Google (around $1 billion), it extends to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean over a distance of 15,000 kilometers. A dizzying length… but for a much less impressive diameter: more or less 10 centimeters.
Source : 20 minutes
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