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Digital Transformation Drives Development in Africa
(World Bank, 2024)
CHALLENGE 
Accessible, Affordable, and Inclusive Broadband
The availability and use of digital technologies are strongly linked to economic growth, innovation, job creation, and inclusion, at both the national and regional levels. Sub-Saharan Africa, however, still faces significant challenges in digital development.Â
The region’s digital infrastructure coverage, access, and quality still lag other regions. At the end of 2021, while 84 percent of people in SSA lived in areas where 3G service was available, and 63 percent had access to 4G mobile coverage, only 22 percent were using mobile internet services. The gap between coverage and usage is similarly large for broadband, with 61 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa living within broadband range but not using it.
Affordability of mobile connectivity, measured by the price of one gigabyte (GB) of mobile data, is another major constraint. In 2019, the average cost of one GB of mobile internet as a percentage of monthly per-capita Gross National Income (GNI) was 10.5 percent, which is considerably higher than the 2 percent target recommended by the United Nations Broadband Commission. In addition, in 2021, the median cost of an entry-level internet-enabled handset amounted to more than 25.2 percent of monthly gross domestic product per capita.
The region has one of the widest digital gender gaps globally. The greatest disparity exists for internet use, where women are 37 percent less likely than men to use mobile internet according to 2023 GSMA data.Â
In 2021, around 470 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa did not have proof of ID, preventing them from fully benefiting from critical public and some private services.
Source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2024/01/18/digital-transformation-drives-development-in-afe-afw-africa