Sudan Has The Cheapest Mobile Data In Africa, Kenya And S/Africa Have The Most Expensive
Sudan has the Cheapest Mobile Data in Africa, Kenya and S/Africa Have the Most Expensive
Sudan, with a population of approximately 45 million, offers Africa's cheapest data plans. Sudan is ranked higher than 53 other African countries in Cable.co.uk's report on global data costs in 2021.
The study compares over 6,000 mobile data plans in over 230 countries across 12 regions to determine the average cost of one gigabyte (1GB).
Africa’s Cheapest Data
Sudan is Africa's most affordable mobile data market, with 1GB costing an average of $0.27. Sudan heavily relies on mobile data as its primary mode of internet connectivity due to a lack of fixed broadband infrastructure.
Each month, Nigerians consume more than 80 million gigabytes of data.
To put this in context, the World Bank reports that only 31,218 of Sudan's 13.12 million internet subscriptions were fixed broadband subscriptions in 2019. As a result, data is priced lower in order to increase internet penetration and access.
Sudan is the only African country in the top ten most affordable mobile data countries, trailing Italy, Fiji, Kyrgyzstan, and Israel. All other African countries, with the exception of Nigeria and Ghana, are ranked outside the top ten.
Nigeria is 43rd on the list, behind Sudan (5), Algeria (16), Somalia (22), Ghana (27), Libya (30), Tanzania (32) and Mauritius (33).
Data Costs are Much Higher in Kenya and South Africa
Kenya and South Africa rank 118th and 136th, respectively, with an average data cost of $2.25 and $2.67. These countries are relatively expensive due to an abundance of mobile broadband infrastructure that the vast majority of internet users can afford.
Ghana has one of the continent's slowest internet connections.
Kenya's minimum wage of $193.54 and South Africa's minimum wage of $205.9 are two of the continent's highest, demonstrating that residents have relatively more purchasing power than residents in several other countries.
South Africa has 99.7 percent and 92.8 percent 3G and 4G penetration, respectively, while Kenya's Safaricom 3G and 4G networks cover 94 percent and 77% of the population, respectively.
To summarize, Kenya and South Africa are currently the only two African countries with operational 5G networks.
North Africa ($1.53) has the world's cheapest data plans, but Sub-Saharan Africa ($6.44) continues to have the world's most expensive data plans.
In summary, six of seven North African countries, including Egypt, rank among the top 100, while four rank among the top 50.
On the other hand, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for six of the ten countries with the most expensive data, with Equatorial Guinea being the most expensive ($49.67), followed by Saint Helena ($39.87), So Tomé and Prncipe ($30.97), Malawi ($25.46), and Chad ($23.33).
Algeria has the cheapest data in North Africa at $0.51, but Mauritania's average of $5.56 makes it the only country in the region to exceed the global average of $4.07.
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