A quarter of every fibre-optic cable cut recorded across Ghana can be traced back to illegal mining — and that figure is now setting off alarm bells at the country's communications ministry.
Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Samuel Nartey George made the disclosure on Monday, September 7, speaking at the Government Accountability Series. He identified galamsey, road construction, and activities by private developers as the three primary causes of fibre infrastructure damage nationwide.
"25 percent of fibre cuts are a result of galamsey. The telecom industry is one of the worst hit by the activities of galamsey operators," Mr George said.
The scale of the problem is compounding fast. Illegal miners frequently sever underground cables during excavation without reporting the damage to telecommunications companies or any relevant authority — unlike road contractors, who generally notify operators when their work disturbs fibre infrastructure.
That silence makes a big difference. When no one reports the cut, operators cannot quickly pinpoint the damaged section, and repairs are delayed. In areas where there is only a single fibre route with no alternative path to reroute traffic, that delay translates directly into internet and voice service outages for entire communities.
The Network That Keeps Ghana Online
Mr George stressed that fibre-optic networks form the backbone of Ghana's entire telecommunications system, carrying the bulk of the country's voice and data traffic. Any damage to that infrastructure is not just a technical inconvenience — it is a hit to digital services at a national scale.
The financial toll on telecom companies is also mounting. Every cut requires operators to deploy trained personnel and specialised equipment to trace the exact location of the break, carry out repairs, and restore service — a process that is both time-consuming and expensive, especially when the damage is in remote mining areas.
The minister warned that if the destruction continues unchecked, it will not just hurt telecom balance sheets — it will erode the reliability of digital services across Ghana, worsening network disruptions in regions that are already underserved.
A Threat That Goes Beyond Connectivity
Galamsey's damage to Ghana's environment and water bodies has been widely documented, but its impact on digital infrastructure is a dimension of the crisis that is received far less attention. The minister's disclosure puts numbers to what telecom engineers have long experienced on the ground.
Ghana has been pushing hard to expand digital access and improve connectivity as part of broader national development goals. Repeated infrastructure sabotage — even when unintentional — directly undermines that push, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities where fibre redundancy is low or non-existent.
Mr George did not announce any specific enforcement measures at the September 7 event, but his remarks signal that the government is treating fibre protection as a serious national infrastructure security concern, not just a telecoms industry headache.