The incident was caused by a submarine landslide in the Congo Canyon, one of the largest submarine canyons in the world.

For several days now, several African countries have been experiencing disruptions in the supply of Internet access to consumers. A new incident on the SAT3 and WACS fibre-optic submarine system has caused this situation, we are told. Camtel, Cameroon’s main telecommunications provider, has issued a statement explaining its actions.

Openserve, the infrastructure provider responsible for wholesale fixed lines, confirmed the disruptions in a statement and said it was working with its consortium partners to facilitate cable restoration.

According to Openserve, SAT-3 was cut on the morning of Sunday 6 August, while WACS was cut later in the evening, causing a slowdown in internet services in several African countries.

“The Openserve network remains robust thanks to our investment in other international cable capacity, which is why all Openserve IP transit services (WebReach) have been automatically rerouted so that our customers continue to benefit from a seamless connection,” the statement reassured. The French cable-laying vessel Léon Thévenin was contracted to repair the cables.