Telecommunications companies and banks in Nigeria are reeling from a crippling internet outage following damage to international undersea cables vital for connectivity.

Major cables near Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, including the West Africa Cable System (WACS), Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3, have been affected, disrupting services across West and South African regions.

The outage has paralyzed bank networks, leaving them unable to process transactions. MTN subscribers are also facing challenges with poor data experience.

MTN issued a statement acknowledging the issue, attributing it to undersea cable damage and assuring customers that repair efforts are underway.

Sterling Bank, among the affected institutions, witnessed network shutdowns, halting transaction processing at its branches. Customers were turned away as staff confirmed the widespread network failure.

Meanwhile, South Africa is grappling with its own internet crisis, with reports indicating widespread outages due to the same undersea cable damage.

Darren Bedford of the WIOCC group confirmed the situation, noting that while Equiano cable capacity remains unaffected, multiple providers, including Vodacom, are experiencing connectivity issues.

Vodacom apologized for the inconvenience caused by intermittent connectivity problems and assured customers of efforts to resolve the issue promptly.

Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.