Saifaddin Galal
Research Expert North Africa
Internet usage in Africa - statistics & facts
The use of the internet has evolved rapidly in Africa. The continent had around 570 million internet users in 2022, a number that more than doubled compared to 2015. Nigeria, the most populous African country, concentrates the largest number of users. These amounted to over 100 million in 2022, followed by 76 million in Egypt and 41 million in South Africa. In recent years, improved telecommunication infrastructure and the rising mobile device adoption have boosted internet access in Africa. In turn, the growing internet accessibility has promoted digital activities and services, such as social media, online shopping, and mobile payments. Nevertheless, the continent has not yet achieved its full digital potential. Despite the rising number of users, the internet penetration rate stood at around 43 percent in 2021, below a global average of 66 percent.
Popular online activities
The number of social media users in Africa increased annually in recent years, reaching over 380 million in 2022. North Africa was the region with the highest penetration, with almost 60 percent of the population actively using social media. At the same time, Facebook and WhatsApp were the favorite platforms in Africa’s principal economies. In addition to social media, the African population performs various other activities online. For instance, the continent’s e-commerce sector has grown strongly in recent years, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased demand for home deliveries. Africa’s online shoppers amounted to almost 390 million in 2022, rising from less than 140 million in 2017. Additionally, the fintech industry also grew together with the rising internet penetration. Indeed, online financial services have great growth potential on a continent where around half of the population is unbanked.Wide gaps in internet access
Although internet penetration and accessibility are increasing on the continent, a striking divide between African countries and regions is still evident. The internet penetration rate varies substantially across regions, from a peak of 66 percent in Southern Africa to a low of 24 percent in Central Africa. Significant gaps in internet access are also found within each region. In Northern Africa, over 80 percent of Moroccan households have internet access at home, compared to 60 percent in Egypt and only 14 percent in Mauritania. Moreover, gender gaps are still present at a country level. Benin, Tanzania, and Liberia showed a particularly critical situation, recording the largest differences between men’s and women’s internet access – to the disadvantage of the female population.Scarce internet infrastructure
Despite some rapid progress in recent years, the internet and telecommunication infrastructure in Africa remains scarce and underdeveloped, mainly due to inadequate investments. Compared to most other world regions, fiber networks have a limited reach in Africa. In 2020, only 56 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population lived within 25 kilometers of an operational fiber optic network node. In the same year, the 4G technology had reached around 62 percent of African households. However, there were again great discrepancies across regions, with penetration rates varying from about 60 percent in West and East Africa to almost 90 percent in Northern Africa. Increasing mobile broadband coverage is a key challenge on a continent where most web traffic is generated by mobile phones.
