E-Business
MainOne Explains Recent Internet Glitches in West Africa
In an age where internet connectivity is the bedrock for day to day activities such as banking, access to social and government services, have we considered what will happen if our internet connection suddenly goes down?
This recently happened across West Africa last week due to two submarine cable cuts on both the West African Cable System (WACS) and SAT-3 cable, off the coast Gabon and Congo, fibre optic cables which link countries in West and South Africa to Europe.
Although other submarine cables such as MainOne, ACE and Glo were able provide backup internet capacities to the providers being served via the WACS and SAT3 cables, the impact would have been a lot less if the affected Service Providers (ISP) in these countries were inter-connected in-country and if the data required to deliver critical services in these countries were hosted in local data centers.
Such interconnections are enabled by Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) that enable network carriers exchange traffic among themselves close to the markets they serve. In Nigeria, with access to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) and West Africa Internet Exchange (WAF-IX), internet users were able to still access web content such as Google and Facebook amongst others during the submarine cable cut because these Global OTTs have localized their data to bring their content closer to the eye balls that they serve.
However, the same cannot be said of various Nigerian online based businesses and service providers who host their data offshore or who are not directly connected to local exchanges.
One major benefit of hosting data and inter-connecting locally, is that should service to the country be disrupted, basic services that essential for day to day activities can still be delivered online.
Another benefit is that the latency will become far reduced as transactions are not going through Europe for completion but rather travels a far shorter distance to the website and/or transaction engine hosted locally.
Furthermore, by peering at local exchanges, customers reduced internet transit costs due to the elimination of the international transit through overseas carriers.
To further illustrate the benefits of internet exchange points; imagine that you live in Lagos, but your email service provider has their servers only in London.
If you’re forwarding an email to your neighbor, it will first go to London before it goes across the street. It would be much faster if your email server provider had their servers in Lagos and were connected to multiple IXPs within the country rather than connecting abroad first.
Though all internet traffic eventually reaches its intended destination, interconnection of all service providers and full enablement of local traffic exchange vis IXPs will aid faster delivery, improving performance from the end user’s standpoint.
Recently, the CBN has included this requirement to interconnect with local IXPs as a requirement for payment processors, but the requirement needs to go beyond these new online providers to cover the entire ecosystem across Nigeria.
This is a strategic issue globally and countries such as Russia have recently conducted tests to ensure internet services in the country will continue to function if they are disconnected from the global Internet for any reason.
A board member of the West Africa Internet exchange (WAF-IX) and COO of VDT, Mrs. Bimbo Ikumariegbe, said, “Internet Service providers connected to IXPs create a local community thus reducing the routing of traffic through international links.
By keeping traffic local, traffic is reduced on international links, providing significant improvement on local Internet performance for individuals and businesses while ISPs gain substantial cost savings for their networks”.
Speaking on the importance, Muhammed Rudman, IXPN CEO, said “By leveraging connections to IXPs, internet traffic originating and terminating on any network in Nigeria will remain in-country ensuring the international cables become less congested and more efficient, leading to improved performance of applications and websites, reduced costs and minimized traffic bottlenecks for Internet traffic in Nigeria”
We need to recognize that the Internet has become an essential tool for daily existence in Nigeria and ensure our service providers leverage on local internet exchanges to ensure sustainability of essential services irrespective of global internet disruptions that the providers may be unable to prevent.
Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.
The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.
The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.
The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.
With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.
This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.
Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.
These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.
Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.
The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.
Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.
He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.
Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.
He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.
“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.
Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.
According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.
“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.
Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.
Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.
A jury in Los Angeles has found technology companies, Meta and Google liable for contributing to a young woman’s social media addiction, in a case being described as a landmark ruling.
The 20-year-old woman, identified only as Kaley, argued that she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram from an early age due to their attention-driven design features.
According to her testimony, she began using YouTube at the age of six after downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss and online games.
Kaley told the court that she joined Instagram at nine, bypassing parental restrictions put in place by her mother, and spent extended periods on social media.
The trial, which lasted about a month, with arguments and evidence from both sides.
Jurors also heard testimony from Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, Meta and Adam Mosseri, Instagram head.
However, Neal Mohan, YouTube chief executive, did not testify.
The jury found that the companies were negligent in the design of their platforms and failed to adequately warn users about potential harms. Meta and Google were ordered to pay the woman $3 million in damages.
Jurors also recommended additional punitive damages, including $900,000 against YouTube and $2.1 million against Meta, according to company spokespersons.
The jury apportioned 70 per cent of the responsibility to Meta and 30 per cent to YouTube.
Kaley was present in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered, alongside parents of other teenagers who say they were harmed by social media use. Both companies said they plan to appeal the decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online”, a Meta spokesperson said.
José Castañeda, Google spokesperson, said the case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.
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