Nigeria Improves In Global Internet Speed, Ranks 7th In Africa

Nigeria has achieved a notable improvement in its internet speed rankings, emerging as the seventh fastest in Sub-Saharan Africa with an average download speed of 27.62 Mbps. This data comes from the 2024 Worldwide Broadband Speed Report released by Cable.co.uk on Tuesday.
The report, which conducted broadband speed tests across 220 countries, shows Nigeria has moved up from the 133rd position in 2023 to the 132nd spot globally in 2024. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria trails behind Réunion, South Africa, Eswatini, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Botswana.
Réunion leads the region with an average internet speed of 63.29 Mbps, followed by South Africa at 42.42 Mbps. The average internet speed in Africa stands at 14.99 Mbps, making it the region with the second-lowest internet speed globally.
“50 countries were measured in the second-slowest region, Sub-Saharan Africa, which averaged a download speed of 14.99 Mbps overall. All but two of the countries found themselves in the slowest half of the league table. Going against the trend somewhat were Réunion (63.29 Mbps, 75th), South Africa (42.42 Mbps, 114th), and Eswatini (37.23 Mbps, 120th). Meanwhile, Sudan (4.02 Mbps, 223rd), Central African Republic (4.08 Mbps, 222nd), and Ethiopia (4.45 Mbps, 221st) all fell among the slowest ten countries in the world for average network speed,” the report stated.
Globally, Iceland leads with the fastest broadband speed of 279.55 Mbps, followed by Jersey with 273.51 Mbps and Macao with 234.74 Mbps. The report also noted that 35 countries failed to achieve average speeds of 10 Mbps or greater, considered the minimum required to meet the needs of a typical family or small business by the UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom.
This is an improvement from 48 countries in 2023, 67 countries in 2022, and 94 countries in 2021, indicating significant ongoing speed improvements worldwide.
Nigeria is actively working to increase internet speed and accessibility through its National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020-2025). While some targets in the plan have already been missed, the country is performing well in terms of broadband speed targets. According to the Plan, internet speed in Nigeria was expected to reach 15 Mbps in urban areas and 5 Mbps in rural areas by 2023. The global report confirms that Nigeria has exceeded this target with the 27.62 Mbps recorded.
The improvement in internet speed, though still limited to major cities, is partly attributed to the launch of 5G services by MTN and Airtel. Additionally, Elon Musk’s Starlink has been boosting internet access and speed in the country, delivering over 50 Mbps in both urban and rural areas, according to users.