Internet coverage and adoption

The rapid pace of global technological change is opening up new economic and social relationships within Africa. Digital technology is increasing in importance, especially in the face of demographic change and investment in digital infrastructure that are connecting more individuals to the internet.

Almost 97% of the world population lives within reach of a mobile phone signal (2G coverage or greater), with 93% able to access a mobile data signal of 3G or better¹¹. In Africa, this figure is lower, with just 79% of the population able to access 3G. Large amounts of capital expenditure on global communications, including fiber optic networks and the increasing amount of satellites being put into earth’s orbit, means that global internet coverage is, however, becoming closer to a reality.

The extent of internet usage also varies across regions. Africa exhibits the lowest internet usage, or penetration, of any region, which currently stands at 28.2% of the population, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)¹².

One of the specificities of the continent is that more than half of Internet connections are via mobile phones rather than computers. The Internet penetration rate (number of Internet users per 100 inhabitants) was 25% in Africa in 2017, against 55% in South East Asia. The findings of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and World Bank projections have shown that the African continent has increased since 2005 from 12 to 76 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.

Indeed, the number of SIM card communications increased by 344% in sub-Saharan Africa between 2007 and 2017, compared to an increase of only 107% in the rest of the world. However, this dynamic is disparate across the continent and varies from country to country. According to the World Bank, the mobile phone penetration rate is struggling to reach 40% of the population in Niger or CAR, compared to more than 80% in Nigeria, Botswana or South Africa in 2017.

The digital transition on the scale of the African continent seems to be taking place outside the scope of public authorities, through autonomous and unplanned initiatives, following the example of informal urbanisation trends. The digital sector is no exception to the rule of self-help, do-it-yourself and small-scale trade, business and services. The number of direct jobs in the ICTS sector is estimated at 1.1 million in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 2.4 million indirect jobs in the same sector.

In terms of gender, internet penetration in Africa reaches 33.8% for men, and 22.6% for women, signalling the fact that there are disparities in internet access with regards to gender. While this relationship is reflected worldwide, Africa shows this disparity to the greatest extent. Gender will be covered further, below.