Bad network hits Telcos, Banks over undersea cable damage along African west coast

Telecommunications companies and some financial institutions in Nigeria have been hit by an internet outage as a result of damage to international undersea cables supplying them with connectivity.

On Thursday, the likes of MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc, among others, witnessed a slow network caused by the undersea damage.

MTN Nigeria in a text message to customers said, “ Y’ello! We apologise for the challenges you may be experiencing with internet speed and accessing data services at the moment. This is as a result of damage to international undersea cables across East & West Africa. The repair process is ongoing to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Please look out for further updates.”

The damage affected major undersea cables near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and are causing downtime across West and South African countries.

The West Africa Cable System (WACS), the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3 cables are affected.

Some bank networks in Nigeria have been down and unable to process transactions as a result of the internet outage. Telecom subscribers, especially, those of MTN have also been complaining of poor data experience since Thursday morning. 

Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Reuben Muoka in a statement said, “A combination of cable cuts, resulting in equipment faults on the major undersea cables along the West African Coast have negatively impacted on data and fixed telecom services in several countries of West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire. The cuts occurred somewhere in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, with an attendant disruption in Portugal.

“Cable companies – WACs and ACE in the West Coast route from Europe have experienced faults while SAT3 and MainOne have downtime.  Similar undersea cables providing traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, EIG, AAE1, are said to have been cut at some point around the Red Sea, resulting in degradation of services across on these routes.

“In Nigeria and other West African countries, Internet access and speed have experienced disruptions in the networks of service providers in the affected countries.

“Operators of these cables have commenced repairs already, and services are gradually being restored. They have promised to work round the clock to ensure that services are restored to the affected countries within the shortest possible time.

“It is important to bring this information to the knowledge of corporate and individual consumers on these services.”