Ghana leads the way in internet adoption, Nigeria trails behind
According to the information provided from the 2023 Commonwealth Report, Ghana has made significant progress in terms of internet usage and network coverage.
Approximately 68.2% of Ghana’s population, which is close to 35 million people, are using the internet. Out of those internet users, 95.8% are covered by the 3G network, and 67.7% are covered by the 4G/LTE network.
On the other hand, Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million people, has a lower internet usage rate of 55.4%. However, the country still shows decent network coverage, with 84.6% of the population covered by the 3G network and 61.9% covered by the 4G/LTE network.
Despite these improvements, the report highlights that Africa as a whole faces challenges in bridging the digital divide. Data prices in Africa are among the highest globally, with only 12 countries offering affordable data that is less than 2% of gross national income (GNI) per capita.
In Nigeria, the cost of 2GB internet mobile data as a share of GNI per capita is 2%, while in Ghana, it stands at 2.3%.
The lack of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, particularly data centers, is identified as a key issue hindering the provision of affordable mobile and cloud computing services.
The report states that Africa has the lowest number of servers per million people globally, with only 28, compared to Latin America and Southeast Asia, which have more than double that number.
These constraints on digital capacity impact the growth and development of the African digital economy, and the report emphasizes the importance of addressing these challenges to energize Africa’s digital economy.
