Internet Disrupted in Several African Countries

Many African nations have been experiencing internet outages since Thursday morning due to damaged submarine communication cables, as reported by operating companies.

South African telecom giant MTN Group shared on the X platform that significant damage to key submarine cables has impacted communication services in several West African countries.

The company noted efforts to reroute internet traffic through "alternative paths" and mentioned collaboration with partners to repair the cables.

However, detailed information about the extent of the damage was not provided, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Ivory Coast has been the most affected by the internet disruption, followed by Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.

Cameroon, Gabon, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, and South Africa experienced less severe outages, as per the global internet monitoring group NetBlocks.

In South Africa, Vodacom, a leading telecommunications company, posted on X about "connectivity issues" caused by several faults in submarine cables, without providing further details.

The majority of the world's internet traffic passes through dozens of fiber-optic cables laid along the seabeds and oceans. One of the longest stretches (15,000 kilometers) from Portugal to South Africa.