East African nations including Tanzania, Mayotte, Mozambique, and Malawi faced internet connectivity disruptions due to faults in the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and SEACOM cables.
Safaricom, Kenya’s leading telecoms operator, swiftly activated redundancy measures to mitigate service interruptions, though subscribers in affected areas may still experience reduced internet speeds.
NetBlocks, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stated, “Network data show a disruption to Internet connectivity in and around multiple East African countries.”
This incident echoes similar outages experienced in West African countries such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and South Africa.
The disruptions were attributed to damages on four sub-sea cables off the west coast of Africa, namely the West Africa Cable System, MainOne, South Atlantic 3, and ACE sea cables.
The collective repair costs for the affected digital infrastructure companies in West Africa are estimated to be around $8 million, with individual cable restoration expenses ranging from $1 to $2 million depending on the extent of damage incurred.
These developments reflects the vulnerabilities of submarine cable networks and the critical need for swift and efficient repairs to ensure uninterrupted connectivity in the region.
