Nigeria Advocates Regional Cooperation To Protect Undersea Cables In West Africa

In light of recent disruptions to undersea cables affecting connectivity across West Africa, Nigeria has advocated for a coordinated and collaborative approach among regional nations to safeguard shared telecommunications infrastructure. Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), conveyed this stance during the Annual General Meeting of the 21st West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA) in Freetown, Sierra Leone, held from March 19 to 22, 2024.

Addressing the assembly through Nnenna Ukoha, the Deputy Director of Public Affairs of the commission, Dr. Maida emphasized the imperative of establishing mechanisms within the subregion to protect submarine infrastructure from damage and mitigate its far-reaching consequences. He highlighted the recent incidents of submarine cable cuts, which resulted in widespread outages across multiple networks in 12 African countries, underscoring the pressing need for proactive measures to avert such disruptions in the future.

Dr. Maida referenced a report by Cloudflare, an IT service management firm, indicating that several countries, including four in West Africa, continue to experience lingering effects of the cable cuts. He stressed that securing telecom infrastructure is vital not only for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) but also for instilling investor confidence in the region. The reliability and resilience of telecommunications networks, he noted, are pivotal considerations for investors evaluating opportunities within the West African subregion.

Asserting that safeguarding these critical assets is essential for attracting investment, fostering economic growth, and enhancing regional competitiveness on the global stage, Dr. Maida emphasized the significance of collective action to ensure uninterrupted connectivity and sustained development in West Africa.