- Natasha Booty & Moses Corey Gerzeau
- BBC News in London and Monrovia
image source, Getty Images
Large-scale internet outages have been reported in various countries across Africa.
On Thursday, widespread power outages were reported in countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Since then, service has largely been restored in Liberia and South Africa.
The cause of the cable failure was not immediately clear, leaving millions of dissatisfied customers across the continent.
Cloudflare Radar, which provides information on internet connectivity, said: “There appears to be a pattern in the timing of disruptions affecting Africa from north to south.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which regulates the telecommunications industry, said the outage was caused by damage to an international submarine cable that runs along West Africa’s coastline.
“The cuts occurred somewhere in Ivory Coast and Senegal, and there was also confusion in Portugal as a result,” NCC spokesman Ruben Muoka said.
A retired expert told the BBC that undersea cables can even be severed by debris.
He added: “Undersea landslides are also possible. Parts of the ocean floor could become unstable and large amounts of mud could flow into valleys and canyons.”
“If the cables come ashore and are buried underground, they can be subject to accidental or intentional damage.”
Whatever the cause, it poses major challenges for those who rely on the internet for a living.
“It was impossible to communicate with customers. We also had to arrange deliveries through online apps,” fashion designer Cheik Senou told the BBC from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Friday.
“I couldn’t do anything without the internet.”
As of Thursday morning, Ivory Coast’s internet connectivity rate had fallen to just about 4%, according to cybersecurity and internet connectivity tracker Netblocks.
According to NetBlocks, Liberia’s rate dropped to 17% at one point, Benin’s rate was 14%, and Ghana’s rate was 25%.
In South Africa, Vodacom announced on Thursday that its customers were “experiencing intermittent connectivity issues due to multiple submarine cable failures.”
Outages were also reported on the MainOne cable system serving Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.
The Liberian government confirmed on Thursday that internet outages had been reported since the morning of the same day.
Citizens did not have access to basic internet or social media in large parts of the country. While international voice calls are restricted, international bank transfers are also reportedly affected.
“It feels like 50% of my life has ended today,” Benjamin Gaakpa told the BBC from the Liberian capital Monrovia on Thursday.
Fatoumata Barry said her business was at a standstill because she could not receive payments via mobile money.
The Liberian Telecommunications Authority announced that the accident was caused by an accident related to the Ivory Coast’s African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable.
In Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA) reported that multiple undersea cable cuts were the cause of the power outage.
Additional reporting by George Wright and Nicolas Négoce
