NewStats: 3,261,357 , 8,173,778 topics. Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 at 11:51 PM 1v5mh

Major sectors of the Nigerian economy were partially affected as a result of the undersea cable cuts which affected broadband Internet connectivity to Nigeria and countries in the West African sub-region since on Friday.

The development forced many banks and other financial institutions, as well as telecom companies and allied firms to scale down their operations.

Recall that in the early hours of Thursday, March 14, 2024, most Nigerians were unable to carry out online transactions due to a fault that occurred as a result of an external incident that resulted in a cut on MainOne submarine cable system, in the Atlantic Ocean offshore Cote D’Ivoire, along the coast of West Africa.

This has led to internet disruption, experienced by major sectors in Nigeria. Hereunder are five services or sectors impacted by the development:


Banking Sector:

The banking sector was mostly hit, as customers of some major banks were unable to carry out mobile banking transactions, especially on Thursday, when the internet disruption started.

For instance, customers of a number of Nigerian banks were consequently unable to use any USSD services or access their banking apps up till this Sunday.


Telecom Sector:

The Telecom sector was also affected, as some customers of some network providers experienced network challenge, especially during the early hours of Thursday.

For instance, MTN issued a statement on Thursday, explaining the cause while apologising for the inconveniences experienced by customers. The company said, “We apologise for the challenges you may be experiencing with internet speed and accessing data services at the moment.

“This is a result of damage to international undersea cables across East & West Africa. The repair process is ongoing to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Please look out for further updates.”

The chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, averred that some telecoms operators were affected by the internet disruption, which led to low internet speed, as experienced by consumers.

“This is due to the impact of multiple damage to the International undersea cables across East and West Africa coast line which occurred sometime on the 14th of March, 2024 outside the shore of Nigeria. This unfortunate development has impacted on Data and Internet service delivery by some of our .

“We highly regret any inconveniences caused by the damage to the submarine fibre optics cable in the international waterways,” Adebayo appealed.

He assured s of communication services that the repair process was ongoing by the concerned international service providers and services should be fully resolved soonest.

“On behalf of our affected , we offer our apologies for all inconveniences arising from the impact of the damage and resulting outage.We seek for your continuous understanding,” he pleaded.


Aviation Sector:

The Aviation sector was not immune to the internet disruption as there were long queues at some stands at the airports on Thursday and Friday.

A customer care personnel at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja told our correspondent on Friday that she was the only one that could work as her colleagues could not access Internet at their workstations.


Maritime Sector:

Licensed customs agents operating at the nation’s seaports also lamented the difficulties encountered in making payments.

According to reports, agents at Ports and Terminal Multipurpose Limited at the Tincan Island Port, Lagos, lamented that the payment of some charges for cargo clearance had been very difficult and frustrating since Thursday.


Formal and Informal Sectors:

Private business organisations and uned business centres, which employ a sizeable number of Nigerians, also suffered internet downtime. Not a few Nigerians were frustrated in the last three days as a result of their inability to speedily carry out their businesses online.


Issues to be resolved soon:

Meanwhile, the management of MainOne told LEADERSHIP that services have been restored to some of its customers.

It said, “We have restored services to some customers and are actively working on restoring services to others via capacity acquired on available cable systems. The estimated repair time is for our submarine cable fault to be fixed, to enable our services to become fully restored, and independently supply capacity to our customers.”

https://leadership.ng/5-sectors-disrupted-in-nigeria-by-undersea-cable-cuts/

A lot of MTN data subscribers switched to Glo only to realise they are worse

May God protect his people

Betting sector: Many gamblers had difficulty funding their online bet s.

All sectors.
Nigeria is a feather weight country that any small thing ll shake the nation.
For now, we are big for nothing.

How soon?

Kelvin5214:
MTN is back

Back from where? From Cotonou

I can’t browse, my network is so slow .

MTN is back

Noted.

Odi egwu

Hmmm

jmoore:
Betting sector: Many gamblers had difficulty funding their online bet s.

True talk! Sote I come dey rush play nonsense for night because of the network, na God go punish, MTN, palmpay and 1xbet

Kelvin5214:
MTN is back

In your fathers village

They are getting trillions every minute... They aren't suppose to take a day to fix this underwater stuff

E be like say this undersea cable cut no reach my side because I have been exploring the internet with MTN since the problem started and e dey connect Wella.

Meanwhile, who else noticed those clowns advertising GLO on NL were paid to do so? GLO is the worst network so far. 9mobile no dey exist. MTN no be their mate!

MTN is back mostly

can't we employ our Makoko fishermen to fix this cable

Africa has always been in the dark, so network failure is not a new thing.

Tajbol4splend:
A lot of MTN data subscribers switched to Glo only to realise they are worse

You're right. Glo is a no go area. I switched to glo. I got so frustrated that I removed the sim and threw it in fire... Very useless network. I'm glad MTN is back and running well.

MTN is very quick here

Most businesses were affected as were. POS people too.

Tajbol4splend:
A lot of MTN data subscribers switched to Glo only to realise they are worse

They aint worse... Stop saying what you dint know.

I have been using glo to browse for over 10yrs

This kind of situation has national security implications. Nigeria should not be overly reliant on other Nations for her internet connectivity. In addition to undersea cable borne internet, we ought to explore the possibility of Satellite internet connection eg Starlink.
This ugly incidence has exposed how vulnerable our economy and livelihood can be susceptible to foreign sabotage and cyber attacks.

Metchwew

Uhm

Tajbol4splend:
A lot of MTN data subscribers switched to Glo only to realise they are worse

Do you have glo sim sir?

Cus I can't imagine when people say glo is worse.
I. Av been on glo for the past 19 years and have never had issues. Fine, every telecos will have issues but they are swift in fixing their issues.

To think glo is even our own

Tajbol4splend:
A lot of MTN data subscribers switched to Glo only to realise they are worse

You are 100% correct.

I had to subscribe my Glo line cos of this incident. Did you know that for the first time, I had to listen to radio commentary when yesterday's match was on as against Streaming Live?

It was so infuriated 😡

6 , yahoo yahoo

rederede

G

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