Data from a leading provider of market and consumer data, Statista shows that Ghanaians enjoy the 4th cheapest internet data in Africa.
Africa is said to have some of the highest costs of internet service, often blamed for the low rate of internet penetration on the continent.
Equatorial Guinea currently has the most expensive price of mobile data, with one gigabyte costing as much as $49.67 followed by Sao Tome and Principe where one-gigabyte data costs $30.97 on the average.
Even though Ghana’s neighbouring countries such as Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin buy internet data for as high as $4.69, $4.52 and $3.61 respectively, 1 gigabyte of internet data costs an average of $0.66.
Here is a list of 15 African Countries with the Cheapest internet services on the Continent
- Sudan: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.27.
- Algeria: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.51.
- Somalia: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.60
- Ghana: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.66.
- Libya: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.74.
- Tanzania: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.75.
- Mauritius: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.75.
- Nigeria: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.88.
- Morocco: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.88.
- Cameroon: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.90.
- Senegal: 1-gigabyte data costs $0.94.
- Egypt: 1-gigabyte data costs $1.04.
- Tunisia: 1-gigabyte data costs $1.09.
- Djibouti: 1-gigabyte data costs $1.12.
- Zambia: 1-gigabyte data costs $1.13.
According to Statista, “roughly 13 per cent of internet users worldwide were located in Africa as of 2021. The share of internet users in Africa has grown significantly in the last few years. In 2009, only about four percent of internet users worldwide were in Africa. Internet penetration in Africa is about 40 percent”.
The data firm’s research lead covering Africa, Lars Kamer noted in a June 15, 2022 publication that “even if the rates increased considerably in the last year, internet penetration is still under the global average.
Statista’s Research expert covering Angola, Kenya & Tanzania, Julia Faria indicated in a May 24, 2022 publication that “around four out of 10 people in Africa had internet access in December 2021.
She also indicated that the online penetration rate on the continent was below the global average, measured at around 66 percent.
According to Statista forecasts, the “number of internet users in Africa increased to around 565 million in 2022, six times more than in 2010. By 2025, the figure might come close to 700 million. However, despite the rapid improvement in connectivity access, internet use in Africa remained the lowest worldwide”.
Explaining the rate of internet perpetration, Julia noted that internet access varies greatly on the continent.
“While nearly 70 percent of the population living in the continent’s southern region was connected in 2022, the online penetration rate did not even reach 30 percent in both East and Central Africa. Likewise, connectivity differs drastically among countries. Morocco had an internet penetration of approximately 84.1 percent in 2022, the highest among African nations. On the other hand, only seven percent of the population in Eritrea had access to an internet connection”.
