The West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) has called for stronger regional coordination to safeguard submarine cable infrastructure across West Africa.
The call follows the publication of reports by the Working Groups of the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, a global initiative established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC).
In a statement released on Monday, WATRA Executive Secretary Aliyu Yusuf Aboki, who served as a member of the International Advisory Body, said the recent submarine cable outages experienced in March 2024 exposed the vulnerability of West Africa’s digital infrastructure and underscored the need for coordinated regional action.
What the WATRA executive is saying
According to Aboki, the widespread cable disruptions demonstrated that submarine cable resilience extends beyond the telecommunications sector, with outages affecting businesses, financial services, public services, trade, employment and livelihoods across the region.
- “The March 2024 disruptions were an important wake-up call for our region. They demonstrated that submarine cable resilience is not simply a technical or telecommunications issue.
- “When connectivity is disrupted, the consequences extend to businesses, financial transactions, public services, trade, jobs and livelihoods across our economies,” he said.
He added that as West Africa’s digital economy continues to expand, strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure has become increasingly important to sustaining economic growth and productivity.
More insights
Aboki commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for elevating submarine cable resilience on the agenda of West African telecommunications regulators immediately after the March 2024 outage.
According to him, the NCC’s early intervention helped drive discussions and cooperation among regulators in the region, recognising that disruptions to submarine cable infrastructure often affect multiple countries simultaneously.
- “The disruption itself demonstrated that the risks we face are regional. An incident affecting submarine cable infrastructure can simultaneously affect connectivity and economic activity across several countries.
- “Our response must therefore combine national action with stronger regional cooperation,” he said.
He also noted that Nigeria played a prominent role in the International Advisory Body through the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, who served as Co-Chair of the body alongside Professor Sandra Maximiano, Chair of the Board of Directors of Portugal’s communications regulator, ANACOM.
Recommendations focus on preparedness and collaboration
The reports released by the Advisory Body recommend several measures aimed at improving submarine cable resilience globally.
These include enhancing coordination between governments and industry, streamlining permitting and emergency repair processes, strengthening incident reporting and information sharing, improving access to repair vessels and spare parts, conducting resilience exercises, and encouraging greater investment in route diversity and network redundancy.
Aboki said the recommendations align with WATRA’s mandate of promoting regulatory cooperation among telecommunications regulators across West Africa.
- “The recommendations provide a strong basis for the next phase of our work. The priority now must be to examine how these global recommendations can be translated into practical actions appropriate to the West African context,” he said.
Aboki stressed that strengthening submarine cable resilience is ultimately about protecting economic activity across the region rather than telecommunications infrastructure alone.
What you should know
Last year, the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, co-chaired by Dr. Bosun Tijani, had adopted a joint declaration recommending investment in new cable systems across nations, among other key recommendations.
The declaration, titled “The International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience Declaration,” was announced by Tijani during the ongoing inaugural International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in Abuja.
The body underscored the importance of identifying and mitigating a range of risks to submarine cable systems, including natural events and accidental maritime damage, through the timely exchange of pertinent information, knowledge, best practices, and enhanced cooperation between government agencies and all relevant stakeholders.
