Broadband Infrastructure in Africa

While mobile phones are the device most Africans use to go online, the internet connections those phones rely on are built on a much larger physical infrastructure. Submarine cables, inland fibre networks and data centres together form the backbone that carries data into, across and within the continent. Understanding this infrastructure helps explain why internet speed, reliability and cost can differ so significantly from one country or region to another.

Submarine cables and international connectivity

Most of Africa's international internet capacity arrives through submarine cables, fibre optic lines laid along the ocean floor connecting the continent to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other regions. These cables land at specific points along the African coastline, typically near major port cities, before the data they carry is distributed inland through terrestrial networks.

The number of submarine cables serving a particular coastline affects both the available capacity and the resilience of connectivity in that region. Countries served by multiple cables generally experience more stable connections, since traffic can be rerouted if one cable is damaged or experiences a fault. Countries that depend on a single cable connection are more vulnerable to significant outages when that cable is disrupted, which has happened on occasion due to issues such as anchor damage or underwater geological activity.

Extending connectivity inland

Once data reaches the coast, it needs to travel inland to reach cities, towns and villages across often vast national territories. This is achieved through terrestrial fibre backbone networks, which function as the inland extension of the international cables. Landlocked countries are particularly dependent on cross border fibre links passing through neighbouring states to reach the coast, making regional cooperation and cross border infrastructure agreements an important part of extending connectivity across the continent.

In areas where laying fibre is not yet economically viable, satellite connectivity and microwave links continue to play a role, providing internet access to remote communities, government facilities or businesses that would otherwise remain unconnected. These technologies typically offer lower speeds and higher costs per unit of data compared to fibre, but they remain important tools for reaching the most isolated areas.

The growth of data centres

Historically, much of the data generated and consumed by African internet users was processed and stored in data centres located outside the continent, often in Europe or the Middle East. This added latency, the delay between a request being made and a response being received, and meant that local data remained dependent on long distance international links even for services used entirely within a country or region.

In recent years, more data centres have been built within African countries, allowing local and regional cloud services, content delivery and business applications to be hosted closer to their users. This trend supports faster, more reliable access to digital services and can also have implications for data sovereignty, as some governments have introduced requirements around where certain categories of data must be stored.

Investment patterns and remaining gaps

Investment in broadband infrastructure across Africa comes from a mix of sources, including private telecommunications operators, infrastructure specific companies that build and lease fibre and tower capacity, government programmes and development finance institutions. Despite considerable investment over the past two decades, significant gaps remain, particularly in rural areas, smaller towns and regions with lower population density, where the commercial case for extending fibre networks is weaker.

Closing these gaps is widely seen as important not only for individual internet access but also for broader economic development, since reliable and affordable connectivity underpins everything from digital financial services and e-commerce to remote education, telemedicine and government service delivery. The pace of future progress will likely depend on continued investment, supportive regulatory environments and ongoing regional cooperation on cross border infrastructure projects.