The number of Internet users in Africa is growing at a faster pace than the rest of the world. And yet the continent still have a long way to go. Here are the top 7 african countries with the highest internet users.
The Internet usage numbers come mainly from data published by Datareportal and Statista.
As of August 2022, Nigeria has the highest internet users in Africa. The country is closely followed by Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Morocco.
African Countries With the Highest Internet Users (2022)
7. TANZANIA (23,000,000 approx.)
Internet access in Tanzania, a country in East Africa, began in 1995. Within 5 years, 115,000 people were connected to the Internet. Since then, there has been significant growth. Today the country has the seventh largest internet users in Africa.
6. ALGERIA (25,000,000 approx.)
Over the past decade, the number of Internet users in Algeria has greatly increased, from 150,000 users in 2006 to approximately 5,230,000 in 2012 and 25,000,000 in 2022.
5. MOROCCO (24,500,000 approx.)
Research universities led the development of the internet in Morocco from the early 1990s, with internet access extended to the general public in 1996. Between 2013 and 2014, the Moroccan Internet population grew by 1 million. As of 2022, more than 90% of Moroccan citizens use mobile devices to access the Internet. The country has the fifth largest internet users in Africa.
4. SOUTH AFRICA (35,000,000 approx.)
Though the internet was introduced in 1988 in south africa, commercial Internet access for businesses and private use began in 1992. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of internet users in South Africa increased by 1.7 million (+4.5%). While Internet penetration in stood at 64.0% in August 2022.
3. KENYA (47,000,000 approx.)
The internet was introduced in Kenya in 1993, and the first commercial internet service provider (ISP) began operating in 1995.
As at January 2021, Kenya had an internet penetration of approximately 40.0%. According to statista, this high rate is mainly because Kenya is home to M-Pesa, which is a mobile wallet provider and the offered secure payment system encourages internet access.
The country has the third largest internet users in Africa.
2. EGYPT (55,00,000 approx.)
There are over 50 million internet users in Egypt in as of 2022. The number of internet users in Egypt increased by 4.5 million (+8.1%) between 2020 and 2021. Internet penetration in Egypt stood at 57.3% in August 2022.
The country has the second largest internet users in Africa.
1. NIGERIA (108,300,000 approx.)
The first attempt at introducing Internet in Nigeria was made through the UNESCO sponsored RINAF project in 1995, but it later became a reality in the late 90’s.
Being the most populous black country on earth, its no surprise that the country has the highest number of internet users in Africa.
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of internet users in Nigeria increased by 19 million (+22%). As at August 2022 Internet penetration in Nigeria stood at 50.0% and is set to reach 65.2 percent in 2025.
