Nigeria, with an average download speed of 27.62 Mbps, has risen to the seventh position among Sub-Saharan African nations with the fastest internet speed.
This is in line with the 2024 Worldwide Broadband Speed Report, which Cable.co.uk published on Tuesday. Nigeria climbed in the worldwide speed rating, going from 133rd in 2023 to 132nd in 2024, according to broadband speed tests carried out in 220 nations.
Nigeria was placed seventh in Africa, after the top six countries of Réunion, South Africa, Eswatini, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Botswana. With an average internet speed of 63.29 Mbps, Réunion led Sub-Saharan Africa; South Africa came in second with 42.42 Mbps.
Average Speed In Africa
The survey states that with an average internet speed of 14.99 Mbps, Africa has the second-lowest internet speed worldwide.
According to the reports: “50 countries were measured in the second-slowest region Sub-Saharan Africa, which averaged a download speed of 14.99Mbps overall. All but two of the countries found themselves in the slowest half of the league table.
“Going against the trend somewhat were Réunion (63.29Mbps, 75th), South Africa (42.42Mbps, 114th), and Eswatini (37.23Mbps, 120th). Meanwhile, Sudan (4.02Mbps, 223rd), Central African Republic (4.08Mbps, 222nd), and Ethiopia (4.45Mbps, 221st) all fell among the slowest ten countries in the world for average network speed,” it reads.
The global leaders
According to the study, Iceland has the fastest broadband in the world after an analysis of around 1.5 billion broadband speed tests conducted globally. The nation’s average internet speed was 279.55 Mbps, second only to Jersey, a country in Western Europe, at 273.51 Mbps. Asia’s Macao ranked third globally in terms of internet speed, at 234.74 Mbps.
The report claims that 35 countries were unable to reach average speeds of 10 Mbps or above, which is the minimum required to meet the demands of a typical family or small business, according to UK telecom authority Ofcom.
The fact that this is less than the 48 nations in 2023, 67 countries in 2022, and 94 countries in 2021 shows that considerable speed increases are still being made in many regions of the world.
What you should know
Nigeria is now working to expand the number of Nigerians who can access the internet through its National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020–2025) and to boost the speed of internet connection. Even though the plan’s internet speed targets have already been missed in some cases, the nation appears to be performing well overall.
However, by 2023, Nigerian internet speeds are predicted to reach 15 Mbps download in urban areas and 5 Mbps in rural regions, per the Plan. The nation has in fact surpassed this goal, as evidenced by the global report, which recorded 27.62Mbps.
The introduction of 5G by MTN and Airtel may be the reason for the increase in internet speed, but it is still only present in large cities. Elon Musk’s Starlink entrance is also contributing to increased internet speed and availability in the nation. Users report that Starlink is currently able to deliver over 50Mbps in Nigeria’s rural and urban locations.
