The president of the IT Association of The Gambia, Ms Beran Dondeh-Gillen, has released a statement on behalf of her association expressing its dismay over the recent frequent Internet outages in the country.
The release issued yesterday stated: “The IT Association of The Gambia (ITAG) notes with disappointment yet again the Internet outage that occurred this Tuesday 9th February around 7am. In a space of five weeks, The Gambia has seen four Internet outages ranging from four hours to over 10 hours. 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.
“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.
Beran Dondeh-Gillen, the president of ITAG said: “The Internet is the heart of every company, in these pandemic times were 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.”
