Africa’s broadband connectivity, once a luxury limited mostly to urban centers, is gradually expanding across the continent, driven by a combination of mobile innovation, infrastructure investments, emerging technologies, and policy reforms. Yet, despite notable progress, significant gaps remain.
The state of broadband in Africa in 2025 culminated in a narrative of dynamic growth interwoven with persistent challenges, urgent imperatives, and promising solutions that, together, defined the trajectory for inclusive broadband growth across Africa’s diverse communities as they enter 2026.
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Progress in Broadband Penetration
In Africa, broadband is accelerating the adoption of modern connectivity solutions without necessarily following the traditional infrastructure path that advanced economies took.
Broadband access across Africa has increased steadily over the past decade, supported largely by mobile technologies. As of early 2025, approximately 39–40% of Africans are connected to the internet, a meaningful rise from 28% in 2019, albeit still trailing the global average of roughly 66% connectivity. Mobile broadband has been the main engine of this growth, with 4G networks covering nearly half of the continent’s population and driving much of the uptake in digital services.
Mobile networks, particularly 4G, have been pivotal in this leap. Emerging technologies like fixed wireless access (FWA) and microwave connectivity are increasingly supplementing traditional, delivering high‑speed broadband where laying fiber is prohibitively expensive or logistically difficult.
Satellite broadband is another transformative frontier. Partnerships between African operators and global satellite ventures are expanding coverage to remote regions that terrestrial networks currently cannot reach. In an industry-wide trend, major carriers are partnering with low‑Earth‑orbit satellite providers to deliver direct‑to‑cell connectivity across many markets, underscoring the promise of satellites to bridge the last mile in underserved areas.
At the same time, fiber‑optic expansions are expected to improve reliability, reduce prices, and catalyze high‑capacity services necessary for advanced digital economies. These include Kenya’s National Fiber Optic Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI), which links to multiple Indian Ocean undersea cables; Rwanda’s 4,500-km national fiber backbone, which connects via Kenya and Tanzania to submarine cable systems; Ethiopia’s fiber corridors, which reach the SEA-ME-WE and EASSy cables via Djibouti; Uganda and South Sudan’s cross-border fiber links, which connect through Kenya to the TEAMS and SEACOM cables; and Zambia and Malawi’s terrestrial fiber routes, which connect via Tanzania and Mozambique to the EASSy undersea cable system.
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Africa’s Infrastructure Investment Outlook
According to the ITU, African national governments are the largest infrastructure investors on the continent, with 75% of the value of projects by African multinationals reinvested within the continent. Interestingly, the African Development Bank estimates that a total annual investment of USD 130–170 billion was invested in infrastructure through 2025, of which only USD 4–7 billion per year (around 2–5%) is allocated to ICT.
Collectively, mobile operators in Sub-Saharan Africa have invested more than USD 28 billion in mobile CapEx over the past five years. Looking ahead, operator CapEx in the region is projected to grow significantly, reaching USD 62 billion by 2030. This regional investment is part of a broader global trend, with the mobile industry predicted to invest USD 1.5 trillion worldwide during the same period.
The majority of both regional and global broadband investments in 2026 will focus on the rollout and expansion of 5G networks and beyond.
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Assessing How Broadband Can Curb the Digital Divide
Despite progress, Africa remains deeply divided along regional, rural–urban, and socio‑economic lines. Internet usage varies significantly by region. Southern Africa boasts some of the highest penetration rates, while Central Africa lags far behind. Rural residents—especially in landlocked and low‑income nations—often face infrastructure deficits, limited coverage, and prohibitive costs.
The usage gap—the difference between those who live in areas with broadband coverage and those who actually use the internet—is another stark challenge. Hundreds of millions of Africans remain offline despite being within reach of broadband networks, a situation driven by affordability constraints, lack of digital skills, and limited locally relevant content. The World Bank observes that, in many countries, only the capital region has high levels of internet access, while other regions tend to lag.
“Ecosystem players are taking a multi-stakeholder approach, implementing a combination of policy and industry interventions to address the usage gap,” explained Shroug Ganawa, Senior Analyst, Africa, GSMA. “Governments can prioritize affordability by reviewing taxation policies on devices and services. A good example is South Africa, where removing a luxury goods tax on entry-level smartphones has already shown positive results in device adoption.”
Africa, home to the world’s largest proportion of young people, represents unparalleled potential for digital innovation. With access to broadband, young Africans are more empowered to create local solutions to local challenges, from mobile‑based agriculture tools to tech‑enabled marketplaces.
When supported by inclusive policy, infrastructure sharing, and competitive markets, broadband lowers access costs and expands service reach, helping narrow gaps between urban and rural populations, men and women, and formal and informal economies.
However, broadband’s impact on the digital divide is maximized only when paired with digital skills development, localized content, and supportive regulation that ensures networks translate into real social and economic participation rather than mere connectivity.
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Policy and the Road Ahead
Policy underpins broadband expansion and investment across Africa, supported by regulatory frameworks benchmarked through the ITU’s ICT Regulatory Tracker, which assesses 50 indicators across regulatory authority, mandates, regimes, and competition.
Reforms initially focused on market liberalization, competition, and licensing, but have since expanded to broadband-relevant areas such as spectrum management, universal service, broadcasting, internet content, data protection, cybersecurity, and AI governance.
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National digital strategies are reinforcing this shift. For instance, Uganda’s Digital Transformation Roadmap aims to connect a population of 46 million, with over 70% under the age of 30, while Ghana’s shared nationwide 4G and 5G greenfield network aims to deliver improved broadband access to 22 million internet users, lower costs through infrastructure sharing, and support digital skills programs.
Public‑private partnerships (PPPs) are similarly seen as critical in scaling broadband solutions. Successful initiatives, such as the aforementioned regional backbone projects, illustrate how risk‑sharing and structured investment can reduce costs and attract private capital.
Regulatory environments also play a decisive role. Harmonized spectrum policies, streamlined licensing frameworks, and incentives for infrastructure sharing can reduce deployment bottlenecks and unlock cross‑border connectivity, a key driver of the Single Digital Market vision championed by the Smart Africa Alliance.
Broadband has already helped bridge communities and accelerate economic growth in ways that were unimaginable even a decade ago. Yet, for Africa to fully harness the power of connectivity going into 2026, localized and FDI investment and inclusive policy must remain at the forefront of the continent’s broadband agenda.
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