The International Telecommunication Union and Nigeria have urged international cooperation to address the growing damage and disruptions to underwater cables, cautioning that such occurrences threaten the expansion and viability of the global digital economy. The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, called for international efforts to prioritise submarine cable resilience during his speech at the International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit, which Nigeria hosted in Abuja on Wednesday. He described the issue as a strategic imperative that impacts multiple sectors.
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Nigeria’s commitment to protecting digital infrastructure
The minister said, “Nigeria is committed to strengthening its digital infrastructure and advancing policies that support connectivity, innovation, and economic growth.”
“We are taking decisive steps as a nation to recognise and protect the government’s infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, aligning with our broader efforts to enhance digital resilience across all sectors.”
“As a government, we are also deeply invested in leveraging digital property infrastructure, promoting global access, and expanding broadband penetration, ensuring that connectivity remains a catalyst for economic transformation and revolution.”
“The outcomes of this summit will not only influence policy and investment decisions but also serve as the foundation for global cooperation and long-term resilience.”
ITU calls for urgent action to protect submarine cable networks
Additionally, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the ITU Secretary-General, emphasised the urgency of taking action to protect submarine cable networks, which make up 95% of the world’s digital connection infrastructure.
According to Bogdan-Martin, the digital economy has experienced exponential growth and currently contributes significantly to the global gross domestic product.
By 2028, she predicted, the sector’s value would surpass the growth of the global GDP at $16.5 trillion.
She said, “Since the 2005 World Summit on the increasing society, the number of internet users back then in 2005 stood at one billion.
“At the end of last year, we had 5.5 billion internet users, and today, the global digital economy is growing faster than global GDP and is expected to reach 16.5 trillion U.S. dollars by 2028.”
“Over the next decade, some estimate that more than two-thirds of the new value creation could come from digitally enabled companies.”
“As our economies and digital innovations grow, and as we seek to bring meaningful connectivity to all, so does our reliance on digital infrastructure like submarine cables.”
“This global undersea network is emblematic of the innovation and the investment required to connect the world meaningfully.”
Frequency of submarine cable disruptions
According to Bogdan-Martin, there are an estimated 200 underwater cable disruptions every year, which makes repairs across continents difficult and time-consuming. She went on to say that because submarine cables are essential to trade, finance, governance, education, and health, these disruptions have an impact on economies all across the world. She urged the ITU advisory board, academic institutions, and important stakeholders to create a plan that increases the resilience of underwater cable infrastructure and praised Nigeria for hosting the summit.
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Critical role of submarine cable businesses in global economy
Prof. Sandra Maximiano, Co-Chair of the ITU Advisory Board, emphasised the importance of submarine cable companies to the world economy during the event. Recent industry advancements, she said, have raised awareness of the necessity of improved security and redundancy in subsea networks.
She said, “It is no coincidence that we are meeting here in Abuja today, given that several cable cuts occurred in March last year, affecting multiple countries in West Africa, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.”
“This incident highlighted the critical importance of subsea cable businesses in this region, with some estimates indicating that over 70 million customers were infected.”
“While Nigeria is served by several submarine cable systems, many of which also land in my home country, Portugal, including MainOne, Africa Coast to Europe, and Equiano to Africa, other Western African countries. They are served by only a single submarine cable.”
Over 300 representatives from ITU’s 194 member nations attended the two-day summit, which brought together telecom operators, government officials, policymakers, and technological specialists to talk about how to safeguard the world’s underwater cable networks.