Undersea cable failures cause Internet disruptions for multiple African countries

On March 14, 2024, internet connectivity was disrupted in several African countries due to multiple undersea cable failures. West and central African nations were most affected, along with South Africa. The outages impacted a total of 11 African countries, including The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Togo, and South Africa. Submarine cables are crucial for internet connectivity as they carry over 90% of intercontinental data traffic. Microsoft reported that multiple fiber cables on the West Coast of Africa were impacted, reducing total capacity supporting their cloud platform in South Africa. The disruptions also affected MainOne's website and services.