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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Following the recent undersea cable cuts that challenged internet connectivities in many West African countries, Nigeria has called for a coordinated and multilateral approach by the region to protect shared telecommunications infrastructure and diversify connectivity to ensure uninterruptible connections.
Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, made the submission at the 21st West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Maida, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Nnenna Ukoha, stressed that the recent submarine cable cuts that resulted in nationwide outages on multiple networks in 12 African countries has raised the urgent need for the sub-region to establish a mechanism to protect itself from damage to submarine infrastructure and its attendant impact on the sub-region.
He referred to a report by Cloudflare, an IT service management firm, which indicated that about six countries, including four West African countries, were still suffering from the outages caused by the submarine cable cuts, to buttress the call.
“Securing telecoms infrastructure is paramount for fostering Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and enhancing investor confidence in the West African sub-region. The reliability and resilience of telecommunications networks are crucial factors that investors consider when evaluating regional opportunities.
“By ensuring the security of these vital assets, we can attract more investment, spur economic growth, and enhance our competitiveness on the global stage. A secure telecoms infrastructure not only facilitates efficient communication and connectivity but also signals a commitment to safeguarding critical assets essential for business operations. This assurance can significantly boost investor confidence and create a conducive environment for sustainable economic development.
“The impact of events like cable cuts highlights the need for a coordinated, multilateral approach to protecting shared infrastructure across our member nations,” he said.
Maida, therefore, called for urgent need to set up a framework for joint monitoring, risk mitigation, and emergency response procedures for the submarine cables that pass through the sub-region.
“Further to this, we recommend that the WATRA Working Group on Infrastructure expand its mandate to spearhead the development of a comprehensive strategy to safeguard the subregion’s telecommunications networks and associated infrastructure, thereby proactively bolstering resilience through improved disaster response protocols to better insulate ourselves from future disruptions,” the NCC EVC added.
He said that the goals of the working group should be to strengthen sub-regional infrastructure resilience, promote the diversification of the sub-region’s connectivity, conduct regular capacity assessments, as well as facilitate the designation of telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure in member countries.
WATRA was established in 2002 as a common platform for national telecommunications regulatory authorities in 16 member states to promote the adoption of regulations that stimulate investment in telecommunications infrastructure to deliver more affordable, accessible, faster and secure communication services to citizens.
At the 21st WATRA AGM, issues pertaining to accessible and affordable telecommunications services in the sub-region were discussed, including improved consumer protection, quality of service, roaming and conflict resolution for consumers.