The IT sector has expressed dismayed at the frequent internet disruption in The Gambia. 

The country has seen four internet outages, ranging from four to over 10 hours, in the past five weeks. 

IT Association of The Gambia (ITAG), the group representing the sector, said it was disappointed that the internet blackout had continued without any meaningful response. 

ITAG as the umbrella body of all ICT companies in The Gambia would like to highlight the effect this downtime has had on not only its membership but the public and private sector. 

Beran Dondeh Gillen, the President of ITAG, said: “The Internet is the heart of every company, in these pandemic times where systems work more online than offline. 

“These outages have not only an economic and financial impact but also a social impact that affects our lives and livelihood. 

“It is therefore pertinent that the right policies are put in place and implemented to ensure redundancy in our access to critical resources such as the Internet.”

Mr Gilles added that “the economic effect of these outages when calculated are in the millions across the tech industry alone. 

“Where more and more businesses are working online and struggling with the effects of the pandemic, Internet outages have compounded the losses businesses have incurred significantly, causing some to close shop temporarily.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba