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Telecommunications companies and banks in Nigeria are facing an internet outage caused by damage to international undersea cables that supply them with connectivity.
According to reports received, the damage has affected major undersea cables near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, resulting in downtime across West and South African countries.
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The affected undersea cables include the West Africa Cable System (WACS), the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3.
This outage has led to some bank networks in Nigeria being unable to process transactions. Additionally, subscribers of MTN, a major telecom provider, have reported poor data experience since Thursday morning.
In response to customer complaints, MTN issued a statement explaining that the poor internet connectivity is due to damage to international Sea Cables across East and West Africa. The company assured customers that repair efforts are underway to resolve the situation promptly.
Sterling Bank is among the affected banks, with its network shut down and unable to process transactions. A visit to one of the bank’s branches in Lagos State confirmed the network outage, with customers being turned away.
In South Africa, the cable damage has also caused a significant internet problem. Reports from local media indicate that multiple undersea cables along Africa’s West coast are experiencing outages.
However, the Equiano cable, which WIOCC has capacity on, remains unaffected. Despite the outage, WIOCC’s customers are not impacted due to redundant capacity.
Vodacom, a leading telecom operator in South Africa, has confirmed the sea cable damages, stating that certain customers may experience intermittent connectivity issues. The company apologized for the inconvenience and thanked customers for their patience while the issue was being addressed.
