Major internet disruption has been reported in several African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The cause of the cable failures is not immediately clear, leading to widespread connectivity issues.
Cloudflare Radar, which provides information on internet connections, noted a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, impacting countries from the north to the south of Africa. Internet connectivity in the Ivory Coast dropped to around just 4%, while Liberia, Benin, and Ghana also experienced significant drops in connectivity.
In South Africa, Vodacom reported intermittent connectivity issues due to multiple undersea cable failures. Additionally, a fault was reported on the MainOne cable system, which serves Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos. The Liberian government confirmed internet disruption, affecting basic internet access, social media, international bank transfers, and international voice calls.
Citizens in Liberia expressed frustration and impact on their daily lives due to the internet outage. Benjamin Garkpah told the BBC that it felt like ‘50% of my life is gone today,’ while Fatumata Barry revealed that her business had stalled because she can’t receive payments through mobile money.
The Liberia Telecommunications Authority attributed the disruption to an incident involving the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable in Ivory Coast. In Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA) reported that multiple undersea cable disruptions were responsible for the outage.
Cloudflare also posted on social media that major internet disruptions were ongoing in The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, and Niger. The widespread internet outages have significantly impacted various aspects of daily life and business operations across the affected African countries.
