An online capacity building workshop on submarine cable resilience brought together 240 participants from 42 countries to examine Africa's growing dependence on subsea cables whose fragility is increasingly a concern. Facilitators highlighted the risks posed by this vulnerability and called for stepped-up technical and regulatory measures to strengthen the continent's connectivity.
Convened by the African Telecommunications Union ATU in partnership with the African Subsea Ecosystem Forum ASEF, the workshop noted that submarine fibre cables now carry between 95 and 99 of international data traffic, underpinning internet connectivity, finance, education and almost every digital service on which modern economies rely.
"These cables are as strategic and critical as anything we build on land. They carry our economies, our public services and, increasingly, our social lives."
