Downdetector analysed data between the first and third quarters of 2024 to draw up a list of the "largest outages of 2024 at a global level and sorted by region".
The Microsoft and Facebook outages were global events that affected not only the region, but users across the world.
Facebook's 5 March outage was the biggest such event worldwide this year, according to the Downdetector report - which is surprising given the global headlines that the July incident, which affected millions of Windows computers, drew. The Crowdstrike event, which temporarily bricked PCs, requiring a manual fix, is second in Downdetector's global list, following by an AT T outage in the US in February and an Instagram outage in March.
The third most-reported outage in Africa and the Middle East - after the Microsoft and Facebook incidents - involved Telkom , with almost 55 000 users reporting issues on 13 May.
MTN and Vodacom are other telecommunications providers that made the list of top outages in the region.
