Moroccan telecommunications operators are helping African countries that have been impacted by prolonged internet outages caused by malfunctioning undersea cables, according to well-informed sources.
The West Africa Cable System, Africa Coast to Europe, SAT-3, and MainOne cables have been experiencing major disruptions. “These incidents are related to undersea fiber optic cables in West and Central Africa,” the sources said, resulting in “disruptions in access to fixed and mobile internet services except for those of Moov Africa, subsidiaries of Maroc Telecom.”
Moov agencies in Abidjan have been mobilizing for several days to assist a vast number of customers looking to purchase and top up SIM cards or, more broadly, avail themselves of their services.
90% of the undersea cables that provide internet access to Côte d’Ivoire have been partially out of service.
Moov Africa Côte d’Ivoire customers are connected to the internet via the West Africa undersea cable of the Maroc Telecom Group, which links West Africa to Europe through Morocco via eight landing points. The sources said “several competing operators have enabled their customers to stay connected through the West Africa undersea cable of the Maroc Telecom Group,” and both Moov Africa and the Maroc Telecom Group has mobilized teams to “create additional capacities at the West Africa undersea cable and Maroc Telecom’s Internet Points of Presence (PoPs) in Morocco.”
The sources asserted that “the West Africa undersea cable, spanning 9,400 kilometers, is a testament to the resilience of the Maroc Telecom group’s network and Africa’s independence through internet connectivity.”