West Africa's $150bn Digital Economy Threatened by Cable Issues

The West African digital economy, estimated at $150 billion, is under serious threat due to disruptions in submarine cable networks, as warned by the West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA). Executive Secretary Aliyu Aboki disclosed that the region's cable infrastructure is fragile, with significant disruptions reported along the West African coast.

These disruptions have exposed critical vulnerabilities, leading to degraded connectivity and operational disruptions for businesses reliant on cloud infrastructure. The report indicates that internet traffic in affected countries fell sharply, with latency increasing and service quality deteriorating.

The aftermath of these disruptions has highlighted the need for resilient cable systems, as the region's GDP of $800 billion undergoes rapid digital transformation. Aboki emphasized that without resilient connections, the momentum of West Africa's digital economy cannot be sustained.

The report calls for a shift in perspective towards treating submarine cable resilience as a public good, necessitating coordinated policy frameworks to address these challenges effectively.