Several countries in West and Central Africa are facing internet service outages as multiple operators of subsea cables reported failures.

The exact cause of these cable failures on Thursday has not been immediately determined.

Seacom, an African subsea cable operator, confirmed the disruption in its West African cable system, leading affected customers to be rerouted to the Google Equiano cable, which Seacom utilizes.

“The redirection occurs automatically when a route is impacted,” Seacom stated via email.

Internet disruptions due to cable damage have occurred sporadically in Africa in recent years, The Guardian reported.

However, the current disruption appears to be more extensive, suggesting a larger issue, according to Isik Mater, the director of research at NetBlocks, an organization that monitors internet disruptions globally.

NetBlocks reported significant disruptions to international transits, likely near the landing points of subsea network cables.

At least a dozen countries have been impacted by the outage, with concerns raised about disruptions to essential services in severely affected states like Ivory Coast.

Africa has a higher percentage of internet traffic originating from mobile devices compared to other continents, with many businesses relying on internet services to deliver their offerings.

Data from NetBlocks indicates that Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso are among the countries heavily affected by the disruptions.

Written by B.C. Begley