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Internet is expensive in many African countries because telecom operators face unusually high costs to build and operate broadband networks while serving populations with much lower purchasing power than in wealthier parts of the world. Delivering internet requires thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cables, hundreds of thousands of mobile base stations, reliable electricity and continuous network maintenance, yet these investments must often be recovered from consumers with far lower average incomes. Although investments in submarine cables have made international bandwidth significantly cheaper over the past two decades, the high cost of expanding and operating domestic broadband networks continues to keep internet prices above the International Telecommunication Union’s affordability benchmark across much of the continent.
According to the world bank data, the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data in Africa fell from 10.5% of monthly GNI per capita in 2019 to about 5% in 2021, but that is still more than double the ITU’s affordability target of 2%, meaning millions of Africans continue to spend a disproportionately large share of their income just to get online.
Two decades ago, Africa’s internet economy looked very different. Most countries depended heavily on expensive satellite connections because the continent had limited access to international fibre-optic cables, making bandwidth scarce and internet prices among the highest in the world. That landscape has changed dramatically. Africa is now connected by more than 70 submarine cable systems, including 2Africa, a roughly 45,000-kilometre cable linking 33 countries across Africa, Europe and Asia. According to the World Bank, broadband access across Africa increased from 26% of the population in 2019 to 36% in 2022, while average download speeds more than tripled from 2.68 Mbps to 8.18 Mbps. These investments have made global connectivity faster and significantly cheaper, but they have not made internet access affordable for most Africans.
The reason lies in what happens after internet traffic reaches the continent. Every email, video stream or online payment arriving through submarine cables must still travel across national fibre backbones, metropolitan fibre networks, internet exchange points and thousands of mobile base stations before reaching homes, schools and businesses. The World Bank identifies these “middle-mile” and “last-mile” networks as Africa’s largest broadband infrastructure gap because they require continuous investment long after submarine cables have been laid. Building terrestrial fibre across entire countries, connecting remote communities and maintaining broadband infrastructure year after year account for a much larger share of internet costs than international bandwidth alone.
The scale of that investment is amplified by geography. Covering approximately 30.3 million square kilometres, Africa is the world’s second-largest continent, with vast deserts, tropical forests, mountain ranges and many sparsely populated regions. Telecom operators often have to extend fibre networks across long distances to reach relatively few customers, making each connection significantly more expensive than in densely populated parts of Europe or East Asia. Research estimates that deploying fibre broadband in low-density areas can cost between 12 and 90 times more per user than in urban centres. Those costs are eventually reflected in broadband prices, particularly in rural communities where infrastructure investments generate lower commercial returns.
Building the network is only part of the challenge; keeping it running is equally expensive. Unlike telecom operators in many high-income countries that rely on stable national electricity grids, operators across much of Africa must generate power for thousands of mobile base stations using diesel generators, batteries and backup power systems. Fuel, transportation, equipment maintenance and security all become part of the cost of providing internet services. Nigeria illustrates the scale of this problem. With more than 40% of its population lacking access to grid electricity, telecom operators depend heavily on off-grid power, and industry estimates indicate that energy can account for up to 60% of operating costs for telecom towers in remote areas. Following the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023, operators reported sharp increases in operating expenses, costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers through higher broadband and mobile data prices.
Government policy also has a direct influence on what people pay for internet access. Before mobile operators can deploy 4G or 5G networks, they must purchase radio spectrum licences, which give them the legal right to transmit wireless signals. According to the GSMA, African countries account for around half of the world’s highest spectrum prices relative to income, while the continent’s median spectrum prices are approximately four times higher than those in developed markets. High spectrum fees increase the cost of expanding networks because money spent acquiring licences cannot be invested in additional fibre, more mobile towers or better coverage. Studies by the World Bank and GSMA consistently show that countries with lower regulatory costs and policies that encourage infrastructure sharing can expand broadband more quickly and at a lower cost.
Even where infrastructure exists and regulatory costs are manageable, competition determines whether lower operating costs translate into cheaper internet for consumers. Research by the World Bank found that expanding submarine cable capacity reduces retail internet prices far more in competitive telecom markets because operators pass lower wholesale bandwidth costs on to customers. Where only a few companies dominate the market or access to broadband infrastructure is limited, those savings are less likely to reach households and businesses. This explains why countries with comparable international connectivity can still have very different internet prices. Somalia, for example, saw the average price of 1 GB of mobile data fall from about US$6.19 in 2019 to around US$0.60 in 2021 after additional submarine cable capacity was introduced alongside market reforms. Rwanda has expanded broadband through sustained government investment and digital policy reforms, while Egypt combines multiple submarine cable landings, a large subscriber base and relatively competitive market conditions to offer some of the continent’s more affordable mobile broadband services.
These differences point to a broader reality: the biggest obstacle to internet access in Africa is increasingly affordability rather than coverage. According to the World Bank, by the end of 2021 about 84% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa lived within 3G coverage, while 63% were covered by 4G networks. Yet only 22% of the population used mobile internet, and roughly 61% of people lived within broadband coverage but remained offline. This “usage gap” shows that millions of Africans already live close enough to connect to the internet but cannot afford to use it regularly. Expanding coverage remains important, but lowering the cost of staying connected has become the more urgent challenge for governments, regulators and telecom operators alike.
The evidence shows that Africa’s internet is expensive because the economics of delivering broadband remain difficult. International connectivity has improved dramatically, but affordable internet ultimately depends on what happens within countries. Domestic fibre networks, reliable electricity, lower spectrum costs, stronger competition and infrastructure sharing all have a greater influence on retail internet prices than the number of submarine cables landing on the continent. The World Bank estimates that policy reforms and greater infrastructure sharing could reduce the cost of achieving universal broadband by as much as 72%, highlighting that affordability is shaped as much by investment and regulation as by technology.
Making internet access more affordable will become increasingly important as Africa’s digital economy expands. Digital payments, e-commerce, online education, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and remote work all depend on reliable and affordable broadband, yet millions of people who already live within network coverage remain unable to participate because the cost of staying connected exceeds what they can afford. The next phase of Africa’s digital transformation will therefore be measured less by how many new cables reach the continent and more by how effectively governments, regulators and private investors reduce the cost of connecting every community to the opportunities those networks create.
