The use of fiber optic cables has become widespread in Africa, although there are significant differences between regions. Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah, associate professor at the University of Cape Town Business School, explained in an interview with The Conversation that this is the result of significant investment by public and private organizations over the past decade.
“Basically, all the internet for the average person relies on fiber optic cables. Even landlocked countries rely on that network because they have agreements with countries that have landing stations, which are highly secure buildings near the ocean, where cables Exited from the ground and inserted into above-ground systems.” she says.
She also noted that some areas are geographically less affected by cable damage than others.
“Based on an interactive map of fiber optic cables, it’s clear that South Africa is in a relatively good position. When a failure occurs, the network is affected for several hours before internet traffic is rerouted.” Jess Auerbach said.
“However, in several African countries, including Sierra Leone and Liberia, most cables do not have spurs (the equivalent of off-ramps on roads), so only one fiber optic cable enters the country. When the cable breaks, the cables from these countries Internet traffic would stop.” she added.
This begs the question: which African countries have been hardest hit by internet outages. According to Citinews Africa, the severity of internet outages is divided into four categories: severe, high, medium and low.
Countries affected by cable damage fall into these categories, and below are listed these countries and how bad their internet connections are.