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Internet "falls over" in Africa
Large parts of West Africa are struggling to get back online following damage to an undersea cable. The fault has caused severe problems in Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria. The blackout is thought to have been caused by damage to the SAT-3 cable which runs from Portugal and Spain to South Africa, via West Africa. Around 70% of Nigeria's bandwidth was cut, causing severe problems for its banking sector, government and mobile phone networks.
"SAT-3 is currently the only fibre optic cable serving West Africa," explained Ladi Okuneye, chief marketing officer of Suburban Telecoms, which provides the majority of Nigeria's bandwidth. So all West African countries have to use it."
Source : BBC Technology