Africa Emerges as The Worst Performing Region in Internet Value

According to a Surfshark report, Africa emerged as the worst-performing region in internet value, with an index nearly 20 times lower than the global average.

In Africa, only 4 out of 10 people can access the internet at a fair price, with South Africa ranking first, Egypt ranking second, followed by Morocco in third position. On the other hand, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Cameroon ranked as the lowest-ranking African countries in internet value.

A worldwide mobile pricing 2022 report, which surveyed 233 countries and territories, revealed that five of the most expensive countries to buy mobile data in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mobile data is reported to be costly in most countries in Africa, and the cost of internet data is far more expensive than that of Israel, the country said to have the world’s cheapest data. Meanwhile, the high prices paid for the internet are rarely matched by the connection speeds.

With a penetration rate of 51% per cent of the total population of the country, Nigeria which is one of the leading African countries with the highest number of Internet users ranked 109th globally, with an index of 0.0017, which is 44 times lower than the global average, which signifies that Nigerians are overpaying for the internet they get when compared to other countries worldwide.

This represents a significant increase compared to 2021 when a global study ranked Nigeria lowest on affordable internet, ranking 85th out of 85 indexed countries in terms of internet affordability and rates.

Nigerians currently pay exorbitant fees to connect to the internet. For context, over N3.25 trillion was spent on airtime, data, and other telecommunication services in 2021.

As regards the African continent, Investors King understands that over the last eight years, the number of people connected to the internet in Africa doubled to 28%, owing to increased broadband internet coverage and smartphone penetration.

However, over half a billion (53%) people in regions with mobile broadband networks remain unconnected due to the high cost of data.