Nigerian Banks Face Service Disruptions After Submarine Cable Damage and Core Migration Issues
United Bank for Africa apologized after a September 2 outage, following earlier months-long outages at Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank caused by platform migrations. A March damage to West African submarine cables further disrupted digital banking connectivity.
Nigerian consumers and businesses remain heavily dependent on mobile banking after recent service interruptions affected major financial institutions. United Bank for Africa apologized to customers on September 2 following a mobile application outage that prevented users from accessing the app. The bank advised affected parties to use alternative channels while restoring normal service. Similar disruptions have impacted Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank since October 2024 due to migration efforts toward new core banking platforms. During that period, customers experienced significant difficulties completing transactions and accessing essential services, while business operations faced operational delays. A separate incident in March 2024 highlighted broader infrastructure vulnerabilities when damage to submarine cables in West Africa damaged internet connectivity. This cable failure forced multiple banks, including Access Bank, UBA, and Zenith Bank, to notify customers about digital banking service interruptions. These events demonstrate that banking outages can extend beyond single application failures to disrupt payments, transfers, and other financial services through core infrastructure or network damage.
