5 African countries with the costliest internet shutdown last year
The growing concern of internet shutdowns has taken center stage in Africa. In 2023, Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed a financial setback of $1.74 billion during 30,785 hours of internet downtime, affecting 84.8 million people.
Governments resort to shutting down the internet for various reasons, from suppressing dissent to maintaining control during sensitive political events.
Globally, it was observed that 50% of government-initiated internet outages in 2023 were linked to additional human rights abuses, with restrictions on freedom of assembly being the most frequently reported violation.
In the African context, major internet shutdowns were primarily attributed to military coups and protests within the region.
A recent index by Top10VPN measured the financial consequences of these internet shutdowns.
The Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns Index tracks the total economic impact of every major deliberate internet outage and social media shutdown around the world as it happens.
| Rank | Country | Total cost | Duration (hrs) | Internet users affected | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethiopia | $1.59 billion | 14,910 | 29.8 million | 2 |
| 2 | Algeria | $101.9 million | 50 | 32.1 million | 8 |
| 3 | Senegal | $57.5 million | 3,946 | 8.01 million | 9 |
| 4 | Guinea | $47.4 million | 3,720 | 4.9 million | 11 |
| 5 | Mauritania | $38.5 million | 482 | 1.7 million | 13 |
