Several East African nations experienced widespread internet disruptions on Sunday, attributed to faults in the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and SEACOM cables, according to internet monitoring groups.
NetBlocks reported on X (formerly Twitter) that internet connectivity was disrupted in multiple East African countries, with Tanzania and the French Island of Mayotte experiencing significant impacts, while Mozambique and Malawi faced medium impacts.
Cloudflare also confirmed ongoing connectivity disruptions in Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar, further exacerbating the situation.
In response, Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, activated redundancy measures to minimize service interruptions and keep subscribers connected while awaiting full cable restoration. However, subscribers were informed to expect reduced internet speeds during this period.
This incident follows previous internet outages in West African countries, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and South Africa, in March. The disruptions were attributed to damage to four sub-sea cables off the west coast of Africa, including the West Africa Cable System, MainOne, South Atlantic 3, and ACE sea cables, which are vital for telecommunications data transmission.
Chris Wood, CEO of the West Indian Ocean Cable Company, estimated collective repair costs of approximately $8 million for the affected digital infrastructure companies. He explained that individual cable restoration costs could range from $1 million to $2 million, depending on the extent of damage incurred.