North-West and South-West are Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered the resumption of internet services in the country’s English-speaking regions, three months after they were cut off amid protests.
Authorities sent texts to mobile phone users before the ban, threatening jail terms for spreading false information.
Communications and the economy were badly affected by the shutdown, with some companies forced to relocate.
Anglophone Cameroonians make up about 20% of the country’s 23 million people.
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Workers in Cameroon’s tech hub, known as Silicon Mountain, had to relocate to areas where the internet was still available.
Anglophone Cameroonians in the North-West and South-West regions had been protesting over the imposition of French in their schools and courts.
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Reuters
There have been anti-government protests in Bamenda in recent months
Blocking the internet for such a long period will have added to the Anglophones’ sense of economic, social and political marginalisation, BBC World Service Africa editor Mary Harper reports.
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya orders end to internet shutdown