NAIROBI, Kenya – July 25, 2025 – Sub-Saharan Africa continues to face the world’s highest mobile data costs, severely hindering digital inclusion and economic growth, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2025: Connectivity and Financial Inclusion in the Digital Economy report, released on July 16, 2025. The report highlights that residents of the region spend an average of 2.4% of their monthly income on just 1 gigabyte (GB) of mobile data, surpassing the United Nations’ affordability benchmark of 2%, with the poorest 40% paying a staggering 5%. These costs, coupled with high device prices, are major barriers to internet access, with only 45% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa using the internet recently, compared to 80% in other regions.
The report, based on surveys of 145,000 adults across 141 countries, underscores the region’s digital divide. Sub-Saharan Africa hosts six of the world’s 10 most expensive countries for mobile data, with Zimbabwe topping the list at $43.75 per GB, followed by South Sudan ($23.70) and the Central African Republic ($10.90). In contrast, Malawi offers the region’s cheapest data at $0.38 per GB, with Uganda and Mauritius at $0.02. The average cost across Sub-Saharan Africa is $3.31 per GB, significantly higher than North Africa’s $0.86 or Western Europe’s $2.47.
High data costs stem from multiple factors, including limited infrastructure, high taxation, and short-term operating licenses that deter long-term investment by telecom operators. Thecla Mbongue, an analyst at Omdia, noted that operators in Sub-Saharan Africa often build networks from scratch, particularly in rural areas, facing high electricity costs and a lack of local servers. These challenges are compounded by a 15% coverage gap, with 180 million people—half the global total—lacking mobile broadband access, and a 59% usage gap, where 680 million live in covered areas but do not use the internet due to cost or digital illiteracy.
Device affordability further exacerbates the issue. Only 74% of Sub-Saharan Africans own mobile phones, below the global average of 86%, with 77% of non-owners citing cost as the primary barrier. Entry-level smartphones can consume up to 73% of a poor adult’s monthly income, limiting access to data-heavy services critical for education, e-commerce, and financial inclusion. Despite 55% of smartphone owners using the internet daily, nearly one in five access it only monthly or less, driven by the need to purchase smaller, less cost-effective data bundles due to high prices and limited liquidity.
The implications are profound for Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile connectivity drives socioeconomic progress. The mobile industry contributed $140 billion (7% of GDP) to the region’s economy in 2023, projected to reach $170 billion by 2030. Mobile money, led by platforms like M-Pesa, has surged, with 40% of adults holding accounts in 2024, up from 27% in 2021, boosting formal savings to 35%. However, high data costs restrict engagement with digital tools. A 2020 World Bank study in Nigeria showed that mobile broadband access reduced extreme poverty by 7% after two years, but only 42% of adults in the region are online, compared to 25% of the total population, reflecting a youthful demographic and rural-urban divides.
As Sub-Saharan Africa aims for universal broadband by 2030, per the International Telecommunication Union’s target, addressing high data and device costs is urgent. Without action, the region risks falling further behind in the global digital economy, limiting opportunities for its 1.4 billion people.
