As of 2022, there were about 570 million internet users in Africa and over 380 million were social media users but despite these huge numbers, Africa still maintains a scarcely developed internet and telecommunication infrastructure mainly due to inadequate investments.
When compared to other world regions, fibre networks have a limited reach in Africa as only 56% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population lived within 25 kilometres of an operational fibre optic network node in 2020 while about 62% of African households had access to 4G technology according to Statista.
While download speed is commonly used as a benchmark to evaluate internet performance, it provides only a limited perspective on the overall quality and effectiveness of internet connectivity. In reality, download speed alone does not offer a comprehensive assessment of how well the internet is working.
According to a report titled ‘The state of mobile network experience in Africa’ published by Open Signal, one major factor that determines a satisfactory network experience is the ability to run applications without interruption. This is where Consistent Quality comes in.
This assessment evaluates the network’s capability to deliver a satisfactory user experience, ensuring that common mobile applications can run smoothly and efficiently, allowing users to complete everyday tasks such as video calls, social media uploads, and smart home activities without encountering noticeable delays or performance issues.
Some indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte were used to calculate Consistent Quality.
The list below shows the African countries with the best internet consistency.
| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
South Africa |
58.6% |
|
2 |
Tunisia |
57.7% |
|
3 |
Mozambique |
49.5% |
|
4 |
Egypt |
46.0% |
|
5 |
Morocco |
45.5% |
|
6 |
Kenya |
43.4% |
|
7 |
Algeria |
42.5% |
|
8 |
Senegal |
38.6% |
|
9 |
Malawi |
38.5% |
|
10 |
Libya |
34.8% |
From the report, South Africa and Tunisia emerged as leaders in Consistent Quality, with scores above 58%. However, majority of African markets still face significant challenges in maintaining stable connectivity, with over half of countries scoring below 30%.
The situation is particularly dire in Mali, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Ethiopia, where Consistent Quality scores fall below 10%, hindering access to even basic digital services.
