Nigeria has become the seventh-fastest country in Sub-Saharan Africa for internet speed with an average download speed of 27.62 Mbps.
This is based on the 2024 Worldwide Broadband Speed Report, which Cable.co.uk published on Tuesday.
According to tests of internet speeds conducted in 220 countries, Nigeria climbed up the world speed rankings from 133rd in 2023 to 132nd in 2024.
Nigeria ranked seventh in Africa, after the top six countries of Réunion, South Africa, Eswatini, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Botswana.
Réunion with an average internet speed of 63.29 Mbps led Sub-Saharan Africa; South Africa came in second with 42.42 Mbps.
The survey states that Africa has the second-lowest average internet speed worldwide, with an average speed of 14.99 Mbps.
“50 countries were measured in the second-slowest region Sub-Saharan Africa, which averaged a download speed of 14.99Mbps overall. All but two of the countries found themselves in the slowest half of the league table.
“Going against the trend somewhat were Réunion (63.29Mbps, 75th), South Africa (42.42Mbps, 114th), and Eswatini (37.23Mbps, 120th). Meanwhile, Sudan (4.02Mbps, 223rd), Central African Republic (4.08Mbps, 222nd), and Ethiopia (4.45Mbps, 221st) all fell among the slowest ten countries in the world for average network speed,” the report noted.
According to the report, Iceland has the fastest broadband in the world after an analysis of around 1.5 billion broadband speed tests conducted globally. Jersey, a country in western Europe came second at 273.51 Mbps. Asia’s Macao ranked third globally in terms of internet speed, at 234.74 Mbps.
The report claims that 35 countries were unable to reach average speeds of 10 Mbps or above, which is the minimum required to meet the demands of a typical family or small business, according to UK telecom watchdog Ofcom.
The introduction of 5G by MTN and Airtel may be the reason for the increase in internet speed, but it is still only present in large cities.
