Internet speed is faster in African nations smaller than Anambra than it is in Nigeria.
According to BusinessDay, African nations with landmasses marginally larger than Lagos and smaller than Anambra State have quicker internet than Nigeria, the country with the largest population on the
continent.Nigeria’s internet speed of 27.62 megabits per second (Mbps) places it 132nd in the world according to the 2024 Worldwide Broadband Speed Report, a survey conducted by Cable.co.uk that
ranked 220 countries.The Nigerian National Broadband Plan for 2020–2025 sets a 25 Mbps objective for internet speed by 2025, yet the country’s current speed exceeds that limit. It is not as fast as Botswana
(29.52 Mbps), Rwanda (32.69 Mbps), Mauritius, Réunion, South Africa (42.42 Mbps), and Eswatini (37.23 Mbps).Mauritius, ranked fifth, with a landmass of 2,040 km² and an internet speed of 31.12 Mbps,
whereas Réunion, with a landmass of 2,512 km², has an internet speed of 63.29 Mbps. Compared to these countries, Nigeria’s internet speed of 27.62 Mbps is insignificant.These countries’ landmasses are
insignificant in comparison to Anambra’s 4,844 km². The commercial metropolis of Réunion has faster internet than Lagos, despite having a bigger landmass (1,171 km2); in June 2024, Ookla’s Speedtest
Global Index shows 43.60 Mbps for mobile and 27.37 Mbps for fixed broadband.A 5GB movie could be downloaded in 10 minutes and 47 seconds in Réunion, 21 minutes and 56 seconds in Mauritius, but 24
minutes and 43 seconds in Nigeria (a country with a landmass of 923,768 km2), according to the Worldwide Broadband Speed Report.The way people work, socialise, and share information has been
completely transformed by the internet. Faster internet is essential for smooth online transactions, according to experts, but this isn’t always the case in Nigeria.Abdulrazak Temiloluwa, a Nigerian national,
was informed by a National Identity Management Commission representative that “our network has been slow.”Temiloluwa was advised to “exercise patience” after he had visited the office several times to modify
a piece of information on his National Identification Number (NIN) registration so he could renew his foreign passport, which had expired.”I needed to update my information, so I had to wait that day. What
ought to have lasted only an hour or so did so for the entire day.Temiloluwa’s encounter is not unique. In 2023, Ifeoma John, a lawyer living in Lagos, attempted to apply for a driver’s license from the Federal
Road Safety Commission (FRSC). A poor internet connection caused a process that should have taken a month or so to take substantially longer.Due to network outages in 2023, the Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC) had to postpone company registration for several weeks.According to West Indian Ocean Cable Company CEO Chris Wood, “people need reliable, stable internet connections to do their
jobs properly.”According to the 2022 Global Internet Value Index (IVi) by Amsterdam-based cybersecurity company Surfshark, Nigerians overpaid for their internet service. Nigeria ranks 109th out of 117 countries
according to the firm’s index, which is calculated by dividing internet speed by cost in each nation. Nigeria’s index was 44 times below the global average, at 0.0017.Nigeria’s untapped potential for fast-
speed Internet is shown by the fact that it is one of the top six African nations with the most subsea cables. However, high-speed internet access is provided to the nation’s coastline via eight underwater
cables: Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), Equiano, Glo1, MainOne, Nigeria Cameroon Submarine Cable System, SAT-3, WACS, and 2Africa.But “there won’t be any change if it doesn’t have a way to reach the
end user.Fibre networks are essential, according to Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. In this instance, fibre technology will provide for far faster and more capacityful
bandwidth. This is because optical fibre circumvents the limits of traditional media’s electronic signals by carrying data as light pulses, according to the statement.Fast internet in Réunion was established via fibre
connectivity that reached far-off places. Project director for the island nation’s fibre deployment, Denis Fabregue, stated in a report that “it is evident that fibre contributes to improving the quality of life of our
citizens” and “it allows for the creation of more jobs and businesses.”The Ministry of Communication of Nigeria states that social mobility, job creation, and economic progress all depend on dependable and
reasonably priced connection. The nation had 164.37 million internet subscribers as of March 2024. Nevertheless, just 39% of Nigerians live 5 kilometres or less from a fibre network.Nigeria’s connection is
dependent on base stations spanning wide transmission areas due to the country’s 90,000 km fibre optic cable deficit. According to Minister of Communications Bosun Tijani, the nation launched a $2 billion
special-purpose vehicle (SPV) to boost its capacity from 35,000 km to 125,000 km of fibre in order to close this gap.”This project aims to utilise Nigeria’s nine submarine cables more effectively, as we are not
even utilising 15 percent of their capacity at this time,” he stated.Our goal in constructing this vast fibre network is to facilitate fiber-to-base-station connections.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reported that the nation’s total land fibre deployment was 49,367.20 km in its Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report 2022.”Fibre is necessary. Ayotunde Coker,
managing director of Open Access Data Centres (OADC), stressed that the objective is to provide connectivity to individuals in whatever method that is feasible.The Association of Licensed
Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) head, Gbenga Adebayo, stated that state governments need to take charge of Nigeria’s ambition to install 90,000 km of fibre.”State governments’ perception of
right-of-way as internally generated income (IGR) ought to be resolved long ago. He stated at the Sixth Edition of the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum, “We cannot discuss the digital economy from one
perspective, and the government views those who provide the services as sources of revenue.”
