Several submarine cables are said to have failed off the coast of West Africa. The effects can be felt in several countries in West Africa, but also in South Africa, according to initial media reports. It is currently unclear what the cause of the failure is.
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The South African telecommunications company Vodacom, a Vodafone subsidiary, reported via X/Twitterthat some customers are experiencing temporary connection problems between network operators in South Africa due to several submarine cable failures. Vodacom itself is also affected by this.
After the failure of several submarine cables off the coast of West Africa, several countries are difficult or impossible to reach.
(Image: Netblocks via X/Twitter)
According to Microsoft, four submarine cables have failed
Microsoft shared on the status page of its Azure cloud servicethat the fiber optic cables WACS, MainOne, SAT3 and ACE were affected. The result is a noticeable slowdown in data transfers to South Africa. Since four submarine cables were recently cut in the Red Sea, the data can currently only be partially redirected via East Africa. Microsoft said Microsoft 365 users may not be able to use some services in Africa at the moment.
According to Netblocks.org Connections to Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo, among others, are massively affected. Effects can also be felt in Nigeria, Namibia and other African countries. The submarine cables mostly run from Europe via the coast of West Africa to South Africa.
Submarine cables play a major role in connecting Africa to the Internet, as there are significantly fewer land connections available compared to other continents. The submarine cables also contribute to the networking of the different continents.
(mki)