Africa Grapples with Major Internet Outage as Undersea Cables Fail

A widespread internet outage affected numerous African countries on Thursday due to failures in multiple undersea telecommunication cables. The disruption impacted businesses, essential services, and mobile device web traffic, raising concerns about the reliance on internet connectivity in the region.

A significant internet outage affected multiple countries across Africa on Thursday, March 14, as several undersea telecommunication cables experienced failures. The disruption caused widespread connectivity issues, impacting businesses, essential services, and individuals reliant on the internet.

Extensive Disruptions Reported

The MTN Group, one of Africa's largest network providers, confirmed the ongoing disruptions and attributed them to failures in multiple major undersea cables. The company stated that their operations were actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths to mitigate the impact.

Previous Cable Damage Incidents

Network disruptions caused by cable damage are not new to Africa. However, according to Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, an organization that monitors internet disruptions globally, the current outage stands out as one of the most severe in recent times.

Impact on International Transits

Data transmission and measurement analysis conducted by NetBlocks revealed a significant disruption to international transits, suggesting that the issue likely occurred at or near the subsea network cable landing points. The exact cause of the failures remains unclear at this time.

Affected Countries and Services

The outage severely affected several countries, particularly Ivory Coast, where essential services faced disruptions. Africa holds the distinction of leading mobile device web traffic globally, with many businesses across the continent relying heavily on the internet for service delivery.

Affected Cable Systems

Observers identified several affected submarine cable systems, including the West Africa Cable System (WACS), Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), SAT-3, and MainOne. These cables play a crucial role in connecting Africa to the global internet infrastructure.

Widespread Impact

Internet analysis firm Cloudflare reported a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, indicating that at least 10 countries in West Africa were heavily impacted. Among the affected nations were Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. South Africa's mobile operator, Vodacom, also reported intermittent connectivity issues due to the multiple undersea cable failures. Namibia and Lesotho were additionally affected.

Challenges in Restoration

The impact of such cable failures is compounded as networks attempt to reroute traffic around the damaged areas. This can potentially reduce the available capacity for other countries, exacerbating the overall disruption. According to Mater, while the initial disruption may be a physical cut, subsequent issues could be of a technical nature, further complicating restoration efforts.