West African subsea cables repaired after weeks-long damage

Andrew Christian -

Following enduring weeks of disruptions, West Africa is on the brink of getting back steady internet connection via normal routes. The region's off-coast undersea cables severed since last month are now being brought back to capacity. 

The West Africa Cable System (WACS), alongside three other lines—Ace, MainOne, and Sat-3—are being repaired, bringing respite to a prolonged connectivity malfunction that has stretched as far as South Africa. 

The ordeal started in mid-March, when a suspected subsea seismic event occurred near Ivory Coast, causing severance to the cables and triggering widespread interruptions to internet services. Outages were experienced in Nigeria, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Cameroon. 

Operators like MTN and Airtel were hugely affected. However, they took action to mitigate the impact by rerouting via alternative cables. Google's Equiano system and the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) served as temporary solutions to the crisis. 

Fixing the cut lines was no money for old rope. CS Sovereign-affiliated ships traveled thousands of kilometers to reach the locations, where they had to lift the damaged cables from the ocean floor, make repairs aboard, and lower them back into water. Apparently, this took time and a great deal of expertise and effort. 

The completion of repairs for WACS, reportedly on Tuesday, April 30, means traffic would resume flowing across the system in no time via normal routes. Earlier in April, Sat-3 was restored, contributing to easing disruptions. 

Openserve, the wholesale networks arm of Telkom, has confirmed the rectification of older and lower-capacity cable systems. The status of MainOne and Ace are yet inconclusive, but the repair ships are reportedly attending to them having finished working on others. 

Be as it may, this is hardly the end of Africa's undersea cable troubles. Off the continent's coast, the South Africa-Far East (SAFE) cable, which links Mauritius and Reunion to South Africa, India, and Malaysia, has been damaged, with repairs underway.