378 million mobile internet connections in 2019 in Sub-Saharan Africa

It represents 44% of the 840 million active mobile SIMs of the region and includes GPRS/Edge, 3G and 4G connections.

A substantial 55% growth of mobile internet services was observed in the past five years. It stands today as the main internet access in the region, far ahead of the fixed wireline broadband penetration that stands at around 1% in 2019 – South Africa representing an exception with an extended fixed wireline broadband network and a penetration of 20% on population in 2019.

In parallel, Dataxis’ research on mobile generations shows that the share of 4G reached 17% of mobile internet connections in 2019, against 2% in 2014. 5G commercial offers are expected to launch this year in South Africa, driven by a wholesale strategy led by Liquid Telecom.