Nigeria has urged the West African region to adopt a unified and collaborative strategy to safeguard shared telecommunications infrastructure and enhance connectivity to ensure uninterrupted service. Reuben Muoka, spokesperson for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), emphasized this after recent disruptions caused by undersea cable cuts.
NCC vice-chairman Aminu Maida highlighted the necessity for the subregion to establish mechanisms for protecting undersea infrastructure. He referenced a Cloudflare report that highlighted ongoing outages in multiple West African countries resulting from these cable cuts.
Maida stressed that securing telecom infrastructure is vital for attracting foreign investment and boosting investor confidence in the subregion. He stressed the importance of resilient networks for economic growth and global competitiveness.
Proposing the establishment of a joint monitoring framework, Maida suggested measures for risk mitigation and emergency response procedures for submarine cables. He outlined the main objectives, including enhancing infrastructure resilience, diversifying connectivity, and conducting capacity assessments.
Furthermore, there is a plan to designate telecommunications infrastructure as critical national assets in member countries, ensuring their protection and reliability.
