Nigeria has advocated for a coordinated and multilateral approach among West African nations to protect shared telecommunications infrastructure and ensure uninterrupted connectivity in the face of recent challenges.
Dr. Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), made this call in a statement on Sunday following disruptions caused by undersea cable cuts in the region.
According to Muoka, Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, emphasized the need for collaborative efforts during his speech at the 21st West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA) Annual General Meeting held in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The message was conveyed by NCC’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha.
Maida highlighted the impact of recent submarine cable cuts that affected 12 African countries, stressing the importance of establishing mechanisms to safeguard telecommunications infrastructure from such incidents.
He referred to a report by Cloudflare, an IT service management firm, which revealed ongoing outages in six countries, including four in West Africa, due to the submarine cable cuts.
Maida emphasized that securing telecom infrastructure is crucial for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and enhancing investor confidence in the sub-region. He proposed the urgent establishment of a framework for joint monitoring, risk mitigation, and emergency response procedures for submarine cables passing through the region.
The Executive Vice-Chairman recommended expanding the mandate of WATRA’s Working Group on Infrastructure to develop a comprehensive strategy for safeguarding the sub-region’s telecommunications networks. This strategy aims to bolster resilience through improved disaster response protocols and regular capacity assessments.
Furthermore, Maida urged the designation of telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure in member countries and emphasized the importance of fostering partnerships and collaboration to advance the interests of the sub-regional body.
The WATRA Annual General Meeting also saw the re-election of Nigeria’s Yusuf Aboki as Executive Secretary for a second term, commended for his leadership in delivering WATRA’s 2022–2025 Strategic Plan.
