Africa > Africa Communication Profile

Africa: Africa Communication Profile

2013/10/13

The use of digital media is still in its infancy in Africa while suitable broadband infrastructure on the continent is evolving. However, significant improvements in national and international fibre infrastructure and the emergence of wireless broadband access and third-generation (3G) mobile systems in recent years are now bringing the Internet to a wider part of the continent’s close to one billion population, and this is opening the way to advanced online applications and services and a convergence of telecommunications with digital media.

Requiring relatively little bandwidth, VoIP Internet telephony was the first application in this converging environment. Beginning in 2004, its use has been liberalised in many key markets in Africa but remains restricted in others. IPTV services have emerged since 2006 and now exist in at least eight African countries. With mobile penetration above 50% across the continent in 2010 and near or above 100% in key markets, mobile TV services are also available in a number of countries.

Besides communication, information and entertainment, the Internet also holds the potential to bring vast improvements in other key areas where Africa lags behind most of the rest of the world: governance, trade, health and access to education. Besides some Indian Ocean island nations, the relatively wealthy North African countries are the most advanced in the areas of e-government, e-health and e-education, but there are also some notable initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. E-commerce and m-commerce applications are enabling African businesses to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.

South Africa is the leading market on the continent where digital media have reached a level of development to foster an associated advertising and marketing industry. The country is also making a significant contribution globally towards the growth of social networking portals. It has more Twitter users than countries like Japan, China, Spain and the Netherlands, and the number of South African Facebook users is more than doubling every year, making South Africa one of the fastest growing markets worldwide.

Internet Usage Statistics for Africa
( Africa Internet Usage and Population Stats )

INTERNET USERS AND POPULATION STATISTICS FOR AFRICA
AFRICA REGION	Population (2011 Est.)	World Pop. %	Internet Users, Latest Data	Penetration (% Population)	Use Growth (2000-2011)	% Users in World
Total for Africa	1,037,524,058	15.0 %	118,609,620	11.4 %	2,527.4 %	5.7 %
Rest of World	5,892,531,096	85.0 %	1,976,396,385	33.5 %	454.4 %	94.3 %
WORLD TOTAL	6,930,055,154	100.0 %	2,095,006,005	30.2 %	480.4 %	100.0 %
NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and Population Statistics for Africa are for March 31, 2011. (2) CLICK on each region for detailed data for individual regions. For help and definitions see the site surfing guide. (3) Population numbers are based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. (4) The Internet usage numbers come mainly from data published by WWW , ITU, the Nielsen Company, and other trustworthy local sources.

INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS FOR AFRICA
AFRICA	Population (2011 Est.)	Internet Users Dec/2000	Internet Users Latest Data	Penetration (% Population)	User Growth (2000-2011)	% Users in Africa
Algeria	34,994,937	50,000	4,700,000	13.4 %	9,300.0 %	4.0 %
Angola	13,338,541	30,000	607,400	4.6 %	1,924.7 %	0.5 %
Benin	9,325,032	15,000	200,000	2.1 %	1,233.3 %	0.2 %
Botswana	2,065,398	15,000	120,000	5.8 %	700.0 %	0.1 %
Burkina Faso	16,751,455	10,000	178,200	1.1 %	1,682.0 %	0.2 %
Burundi	10,216,190	3,000	157,800	1.5 %	5,160.0 %	0.1 %
Cameroon	19,711,291	20,000	750,000	3.8 %	3,650.0 %	0.6 %
Cape Verde	516,100	8,000	150,000	29.1 %	1,775.0 %	0.1 %
Central African Rep.	4,950,027	1,500	66,500	1.3 %	4,333.3 %	0.1 %
Chad	10,758,945	1,000	187,800	1.7 %	18,680.0 %	0.2 %
Comoros	794,683	1,500	24,300	3.1 %	1,520.0 %	0.0 %
Congo	4,243,929	500	245,200	5.8 %	48,940.0 %	0.2 %
Congo, Dem. Rep.	71,712,867	500	503,040	0.7 %	100,508.0 %	0.4 %
Cote d'Ivoire	21,504,162	40,000	968,000	4.5 %	2,320.0 %	0.8 %
Djibouti	757,074	1,400	52,660	7.0 %	3,661.4 %	0.0 %
Egypt	82,079,636	450,000	20,136,000	24.5 %	4,374.7 %	17.0 %
Equatorial Guinea	668,225	500	14,400	2.2 %	2,780.0 %	0.0 %
Eritrea	5,939,484	5,000	250,000	4.2 %	4,900.0 %	0.2 %
Ethiopia	90,873,739	10,000	445,400	0.5 %	4,354.0 %	0.4 %
Gabon	1,576,665	15,000	98,800	6.3 %	558.7 %	0.1 %
Gambia	1,797,860	4,000	130,100	7.2 %	3,152.5 %	0.1 %
Ghana	24,791,073	30,000	1,297,000	5.2 %	4,223.3 %	1.1 %
Guinea	10,601,009	8,000	95,000	0.9 %	1,087.5 %	0.1 %
Guinea-Bissau	1,596,677	1,500	37,100	2.3 %	2,373.3 %	0.0 %
Kenya	41,070,934	200,000	3,995,500	9.7 %	1,897.8 %	3.4 %
Lesotho	1,924,886	4,000	76,800	4.0 %	1,820.0 %	0.1 %
Liberia	3,786,764	500	20,000	0.5 %	3,900.0 %	0.0 %
Libya	6,597,960	10,000	353,900	5.4 %	3,439.0 %	0.3 %
Madagascar	21,926,221	30,000	320,000	1.5 %	966.7 %	0.3 %
Malawi	15,879,252	15,000	716,400	4.5 %	4,676.0 %	0.6 %
Mali	14,159,904	18,800	250,000	1.8 %	1,229.8 %	0.2 %
Mauritania	3,281,634	5,000	75,000	2.3 %	1,400.0 %	0.1 %
Mauritius	1,303,717	87,000	290,000	22.2 %	233.3 %	0.2 %
Mayotte (FR)	209,530	n/a	10,620	5.1 %	n/a	0.0 %
Morocco	31,968,361	100,000	13,213,000	41.3 %	13,113.0 %	11.1 %
Mozambique	22,948,858	30,000	612,500	2.7 %	1,941.7 %	0.5 %
Namibia	2,147,585	30,000	127,500	5.9 %	325.0 %	0.1 %
Niger	16,468,886	5,000	115,900	0.7 %	2,218.0 %	0.1 %
Nigeria	155,215,573	200,000	43,982,200	28.3 %	21,891.1 %	37.1 %
Reunion (FR)	834,261	130,000	300,000	36.0 %	130.8 %	0.3 %
Rwanda	11,370,425	5,000	450,000	4.0 %	8,900.0 %	0.4 %
Saint Helena (UK)	7,700	n/a	900	11.7 %	n/a	0.0 %
Sao Tome & Principe	179,506	6,500	26,700	14.9 %	310.8 %	0.0 %
Senegal	12,643,799	40,000	923,000	7.3 %	2,207.5 %	0.8 %
Seychelles	89,188	6,000	33,900	38.0 %	465.0 %	0.0 %
Sierra Leone	5,363,669	5,000	34,100	0.6 %	582.0 %	0.0 %
Somalia	9,925,640	200	106,000	1.1 %	52,900.0 %	0.1 %
South Africa	49,004,031	2,400,000	6,800,000	13.9 %	183.3 %	5.7 %
Sudan	45,047,502	30,000	4,200,000	9.3 %	13,900.0 %	3.5 %
Swaziland	1,370,424	10,000	90,000	6.6 %	800.0 %	0.1 %
Tanzania	42,746,620	115,000	676,000	1.6 %	487.8 %	0.6 %
Togo	6,771,993	100,000	356,300	5.3 %	256.3 %	0.3 %
Tunisia	10,629,186	100,000	3,600,000	33.9 %	3,500.0 %	3.0 %
Uganda	34,612,250	40,000	3,200,000	9.2 %	7,900.0 %	2.7 %
Western Sahara	507,160	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.0 %	0.0 %
Zambia	13,881,336	20,000	816,700	5.9 %	3,983.5 %	0.7 %
Zimbabwe	12,084,304	50,000	1,422,000	11.8 %	2,744.0 %	1.2 %
TOTAL AFRICA	1,037,524,058	4,514,400	118,609,620	11.4 %	2,527.4 %	100.0 %
NOTES: (1) Africa Internet Statistics were updated for March 31, 2011. (2) CLICK on each country name for further data on individual countries and regions. (3) Population numbers are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. (4) Internet usage information comes mainly from data published by WWW, ITU , the Nielsen Company and other local trustworthy sources.