Why East Africa experienced slow speeds on Sunday

Users across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda have voiced concerns over poor internet connectivity, prompting acknowledgment from service providers throughout East Africa.

Industry expert Ben Roberts explained to the BBC that the intermittent service was due to faults in undersea cables linking the region to the global network via South Africa.

Cloudflare Radar reported significant drops in internet traffic, particularly in Tanzania. The outage, described by Tanzania’s Citizen newspaper as an “internet blackout,” affected major network channels.

On X (formerly Twitter), frustrated customers reached out to service providers for answers. Airtel Kenya and Safaricom in Kenya, as well as Airtel Uganda and MTN Rwanda, acknowledged the issue and reassured customers of their efforts to resolve it.

Cloudflare Radar noted similar connectivity issues in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Roberts confirmed that the Eassy cable, running along East Africa’s coast, was cut near Durban, South Africa.

While other cables connecting the region to Europe exist, the damage to Eassy significantly impacted service, especially for companies with data centers in South Africa.

Similar cable failures in March affected countries across Africa, causing widespread frustration among millions of users.