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Risks to African Undersea Cables and Their Implications
On 12 May 2024, two undersea cables, EASSY and SEACOM, connecting South Africa and Kenya, were disrupted, leading to an internet outage across East Africa. On the opposite side of the continent, several West African countries also had to grapple with internet outages in March following damage to undersea cables.1 In the past three months, Africa has witnessed several undersea cable disruptions that have directly impacted the lives of its citizens and intercepted its process of digital transformation.
As Africa’s dependency on undersea cables rises, it becomes crucial to analyse Africa's capability to protect its cable systems and mitigate the threats posed to them. Thus, this paper aims to examine the risks to African undersea cables and their implications for the continent at large.
Rising digitalisation in Africa and dependence on undersea cable systems
In mid-2012, Africa embarked on its digital revolution journey and started investing in cloud- based service providers, hyperscalers, and cable companies.2 The continent witnessed significant developments in internet infrastructure, deploying numerous undersea cables connecting Africa to other parts of the world. The importance of securing undersea cable connections was emphasised in various policy plans like the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.3 To improve the capacity of its existing Internet infrastructure, Africa partnered with the World Bank and increased its Internet accessibility from 26% in 2019 to 36% in 2022. Internet affordability also increased from 10.5% of monthly GNI per capita in 2019 to 5% in 2021.4
Many African countries took the initiative to open their Internet markets to foreign competition, thus increasing investment and competition from private players. According to a study conducted by Business Insider, in 2023, Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) across 263 projects in Africa reached $91.7 billion, a 23% increase from 2021.5 These developments have created more than three million jobs from online marketplaces, and about 1.7 million jobs in the mobile technology sector. Based on the analysis of these trends, the International Financial Corporation has predicted that the African Internet Economy will reach an estimated $180 billion by 2025.6
As internet connections increase due to digitalisation, Africa’s reliance on its limited undersea cables also rises. This sole dependence on its limited cable systems increases the continent’s vulnerability during internet outages and cable disruptions. Rerouting internet traffic or finding alternate cable connections is also very difficult, and hence, not a viable solution. This problem gets even more challenging considering the diverse nature of threats to African undersea cables and the recent rise in these threats.
Threats to African undersea cables and their impacts
Threats to undersea cables are multidomain, spreading across sea, land, and cyberspace. They can be caused by natural phenomena related to weather (storm surges, typhoons, hurricanes), geology (earthquakes, undersea landslides), or the sea environment, including wave movements. They can also be caused by human activity, be it intentional or unintentional. Commercial fishing activities like trawling, as well as other activities like ship dredging and anchor drags, are the most common reasons of undersea cable damage caused by human actions. These activities tend to cause collective damage to the cable systems as the cables are often located very close to each other; therefore, one ship can damage multiple cables at the same time. For example, on 18 February 2024, the anchor drag of a sinking UK-based bulk carrier, MV Rubymar, cut three undersea cable lines in the Red Sea. There are more serious human threats to cable systems, too, which are posed by state or non-state actors. The oldest manifestation of these attacks was piracy, usually involving the theft of cable materials like copper. Before adopting the Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables (1884), state interventions in tapping and sabotaging cables were also widespread. Recently, threats posed by non-state actors and terrorist groups have largely taken centre stage, as seen in the Red Sea attacks caused by the Houthi rebels.7
These threats have manifested across the continent in varying degrees over the past few years. Each has had a debilitating effect on the African economy and compromised entire communications infrastructures in African countries. Sectors relying on Internet services for their functioning are particularly affected. For instance, the recent Internet and telecom outages in East Africa drastically affected the banking sectors, stock exchange markets, money transfer services, and mobile phone operations in Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mayotte.8 Therefore, the digital infrastructure and business sectors in Africa tend to become highly vulnerable in the event of undersea cable attacks/damage.
Africa’s capability and efforts to manage the threats
Today, Africa faces a challenge not only of limited cable systems but also of cables that are fast-degrading in their quality. The existing African cables are ageing and inefficient, and the continent lacks the resources to set up new cable systems. Furthermore, setting up new cables involves a considerable capital investment and takes up to three years. The rising land prices and the rigorous environmental assessment processes also make it very hard to set up secure landing stations for the cables.9 The continent has a largely suboptimal level of maritime resources and limited ships/vessels to carry out anti-piracy, policing, and repair requirements.10 As establishing new cables and repair systems is a time-consuming and expensive investment, the only solution for the continent is to manage the threats effectively.
To improve its maritime domain awareness, Africa has set up 5 MRRCs (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres) and 26 sub-centres to collect actionable intelligence on maritime risks.11 The continent has also adopted a couple of new strategies to secure its cable systems. A system called the “Hybrid Investment Model” has been adopted to increase alternate traffic routes by interlinking regional cable systems.12 New terrestrial fibre cable systems have been laid down to reduce sole dependence on undersea cables and increase connectivity to landlocked cities.13 Some countries, like Kenya, have set up alternate satellite-connected systems to reduce their vulnerability and dependence on undersea cable systems. African countries have also been taking steps to improve their maritime and infrastructural capacities. Ghana has taken the lead in this area by already aligning with four undersea cable landing companies (Ace, MainOne, Sat-3 and Wacs) to improve its repair capabilities and services.
In addition to taking regional measures to secure its undersea cable systems, Africa has also entered into international partnerships to improve its security and infrastructural capabilities. It collaborated with the World Bank to develop the Digital Economy Initiative for Africa (DE4A), which aims to increase public-private partnerships and help find innovative technological solutions to infrastructural problems in Africa. It has also reached out to various RECs (regional economic communities) like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to set up more regional cable systems and increase cooperation between African countries.
The continent has also partnered with the World Bank to develop projects like the Senegal Digital Economy Acceleration Project (P172524), the Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project (P177077) and the Mozambique Digital Acceleration Project (P176459) to improve its capacity-building systems. Several multilateral and bilateral development partners, like the Smart Africa Alliance, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the European Commission (EC), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the German Cooperation (BMZ/GIZ), have also been key partners in strengthening Africa’s digital and security infrastructure.14
Conclusion
Africa has been making significant strides towards digital development over the past few years, which has led to a rise in internet connections and usage across various sectors of the economy. However, as the demands of the digital economy rise, the reliance on undersea cables rises too. This puts much pressure on the African cable systems, which are not just limited but are also ageing and inefficient. The sole dependence on Africa’s few existing cable systems also made it vulnerable during the internet outages it witnessed over the past few months. The shock of the disruptions was so great that the entire business and banking sectors collapsed. Thus, to tackle this issue, it becomes crucial for the continent to expand its network infrastructure and strengthen its capacity-building capabilities to manage disruptions and reduce its vulnerability during such events.
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*Sharlynn Joseph, Research Intern, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.
Endnotes
1 “Telecoms Groups Reroute Red Sea Internet Traffic After Houthi Attacks.” n.d. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/bf17fc55-8624-435b-b7dd-bc662a887ba0.
2 Clatterbuck, Byron. 2019. “The Future of Subsea Cable Connectivity in Africa - Submarine Networks.”
December 13, 2019. https://www.submarinenetworks.com/en/nv/insights/the-future-of-subsea-cable- connectivity-in-africa.
3 Vrey, Francois. 2023. “Africa’s governments must protect subsea cable infrastructure.” Mail & Guardian, October 23, 2023.
https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2023-10-23-africas-governments-must-protect- subsea-cable-infrastructure/.
4 World Bank. 2023. “From Connectivity to Services: Digital Transformation in Africa.” World Bank Group.
June 26, 2023. Accessed June 19, 2024. https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2023/06/26/from- connectivity-to-services-digital-transformation-in-africa.
5 Okafor, Chinedu. 2023. “Africa’s Infrastructure Investment Rebounds Amidst Challenges.” Business Insider Africa, May 1, 2023. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/africas-infrastructure-investment- rebounds-amidst-challenges/kr14gzv.
6 Clatterbuck, Byron. 2019. “The Future of Subsea Cable Connectivity in Africa - Submarine Networks.” December 13, 2019. https://www.submarinenetworks.com/en/nv/insights/the-future-of-subsea-cable- connectivity-in-africa.
7 Kavanagh, Camino and United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. 2023. Wading Murky Waters: Subsea Communications Cables and Responsible State Behaviour. UNIDIR. https://unidir.org/wp- content/uploads/2023/05/UNIDIR_Wading_Murky_Waters_Subsea_Communications_Cables_Respon sible_State_Behaviour.pdf.
8 “Seismic Activity Disrupts African Internet: Repairing Subsea Cables to Take Five Weeks.” 2024. Africa24.It. April 18, 2024. https://africa24.it/en/2024/04/18/seismic-activity-disrupts-african-internet-repairing- subsea-cables-to-take-five-weeks/.
9 Onukwue, Alexander. 2024. “East Africa outages stir fears over Africa’s internet vulnerabilities| Semafor.” May 14, 2024. Accessed May 30, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/05/14/2024/east-africa- outages-fears-africas-internet-vulnerabilities.
10 Monaghan, Sean, Michael Darrah, Eskil Jakobsen, and Otto Svendsen. 2024. “Red Sea Cable Damage
Reveals Soft Underbelly of Global Economy.” March 7, 2024. Accessed May 18, 2024. https://www.csis.org/analysis/red-sea-cable-damage-reveals-soft-underbelly-global-economy.
11 Vreÿ, Francois, and Mark Blaine. 2024. “Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean Attacks Expose Africa’s
Maritime Vulnerability – Africa Center for Strategic Studies.” Africa Center for Strategic Studies. April 10, 2024. https://africacenter.org/spotlight/red-sea-indian-ocean-attacks-africa-maritime- vulnerability/.
12 Onukwue, Alexander. 2024. “East Africa outages stir fears over Africa’s internet vulnerabilities| Semafor.”
May 14, 2024. Accessed May 30, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/05/14/2024/east-africa- outages-fears-africas-internet-vulnerabilities.
13 Clatterbuck, Byron. 2019. “The Future of Subsea Cable Connectivity in Africa - Submarine Networks.”
December 13, 2019. https://www.submarinenetworks.com/en/nv/insights/the-future-of-subsea-cable- connectivity-in-africa.
14 World Bank. 2023. “From Connectivity to Services: Digital Transformation in Africa.” World Bank Group.
June 26, 2023. Accessed June 19, 2024. https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2023/06/26/from- connectivity-to-services-digital-transformation-in-africa.
