04 March 2024

According to data from the ITU’s ‘Facts and Figures 2023,’ 37% of the African population used the internet in 2023.

While the 2023 usage rate is down compared to 2022 where it was 40%, the analysis of the organization’s data shows constant progression over the last decade.

From 16% in 2013, the internet usage rate rose to 25% in 2016, before progressing regularly to reach 40% in 2022. Before the drop in 2023, the only decrease observed over the last decade dates from 2017 when the rate lost 3.3 percentage points.

Several factors can explain the progression between 2020-2022, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite 25 submarine cables and 1.2 million km of terrestrial fibre, the continent’s optical fibre footprint remains small. Some countries still lack high-speed telecommunications infrastructure. Further, fixed broadband access prices in Africa are the most expensive in the world: 14.8% of gross national income (GNI) while the ITU recommends 2%.

To improve access to the Internet in Africa, the Internet Society has made several recommendations, including reforming the telecoms market to encourage the emergence of competing access networks; and extending national basic infrastructure beyond the main landing points of submarine cables and the main population centre towards other population centres.