•Two-thirds of Africans offline as digital divide strains continent’s economic future

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said a profound digital divide continues to limit Nigeria and Africa’s economic potential, even as global technological advancement accelerates.

While high-income regions are near total digital universality, Africa remains critically disconnected, with nearly two-thirds of its population entirely offline.

This is based on the analysis of the Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2025 flagship report by the ITU, which showed that only 36 per cent of Africans are using the Internet.

For major African economic hubs like Nigeria, these regional statistics offer a sobering baseline. Despite aggressive regulatory pushes for financial inclusion and digital governance, structural limitations in infrastructure deployment, service affordability, and systemic gender disparities continue to act as major roadblocks.

A major finding in the ITU report is the deeply uneven rollout of next-generation mobile networks. Globally, 5G networks now cover 55 per cent of the world’s population, and 5G connections make up over one-third of all mobile broadband subscriptions.

However, this deployment is heavily concentrated in wealthy nations, where 5G coverage has reached 84 per cent.

In stark contrast, 5G network coverage in Nigeria and other parts of Africa stands at just 12 per cent. The report noted that this technological deficit directly affects subscription rates, where only two or fewer out of every 100 mobile subscriptions on the continent utilise 5G. Instead, African markets remain heavily dependent on older infrastructure.

Fourth generation (4G) networks serve as the primary reliable connectivity solution, covering 63 per cent of the African population.

Meanwhile, millions still rely solely on outdated 3G networks, which cover 14 per cent of the population but limit users to basic data tasks. This reliance on older tech prevents local businesses and youth from fully taking part in high-value segments of the global digital economy, such as AI development and advanced cloud computing.

The report highlighted a massive geographical gap within the continent. Globally, the urban-rural gap is slowly closing, but Africa recorded an urban-rural Internet use ratio of 2.6, the widest gap of any region in the world. While 55 per cent of urban residents across Africa are online, rural connectivity drops to just 21 per cent.

ITU noted that this issue is rooted directly in network availability. Urban areas are prioritised for infrastructure because of higher population density and clearer economic returns, leaving 66 per cent of global urbanites with 5G access.

In rural Africa, 5G is virtually non-existent, hovering at a negligible one per cent population coverage.

Most concerningly, 20 per cent of rural Africans live in areas with completely blank coverage or basic 2G voice services, lacking any mobile broadband access whatsoever.

For a country like Nigeria, where over 40 per cent of the population lives in rural communities, this chasm worsens poverty and limits access to digital financial platforms, online education, and modern agricultural data.

The report clearly showed that Internet access remains a luxury product for most Africans. The UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development set a clear target: a basic mobile broadband data basket should cost no more than two per cent of a nation’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Data-Only Mobile Broadband Cost (5GB Basket as percentage of GNI Per Capita)

While Africa’s average cost for a 5GB data-only mobile basket improved from 6.6 per cent in 2024 to 5.3 per cent in 2025, it remains nearly triple the global affordability target. For citizens in low-income nations on the continent, the economic burden skyrockets to an unsustainable 9.4 per cent of their monthly income.

This affordability barrier, ITU noted, creates a noticeable paradox: 66 per cent of Africans own a mobile phone, yet only 36 per cent can afford to use the Internet. This 30-percentage-point gap represents millions of citizens who own devices but are economically blocked from going online.

According to the report, Fixed broadband connectivity is even more out of reach, costing an average of 13.8 per cent of GNI per capita and limiting fixed subscriptions to just one per cent of the population.

On gender disparity, the report offers mixed news regarding demographic inclusion. On one hand, Africa’s youth (ages 15 to 24) are driving progress. Half of the continent’s youth demographic is now online, making them 1.5 times more likely to use the Internet than the rest of the general population.

However, structural gender imbalances remain deeply entrenched. Globally, about 280 million more men than women use the Internet. In Africa, only 31 per cent of women are online compared to 40 per cent of men.