Amazon, Google, Meta, and SpaceX Want to Be Africa’s Internet Providers ⇥ restofworld.org

Damilare Dosunmu, Rest of World:

In contrast to Europe and North America, where connectivity is well distributed, Africa still offers hundreds of millions of potential first-time users. Only about 38% of Africans were online in 2024, according to the International Telecommunication Union. This leaves more than 400 million people without internet access. Even where networks exist, usage remains constrained by high costs and poor service quality. Mobile broadband penetration in sub-Saharan Africa remains below 50%, while fixed broadband access is limited largely to major cities.

Control of infrastructure — not consumer apps — has become the strategic priority, Oniosun said.

It is extraordinary to think that companies like Google and Meta, already dominant in much of the software infrastructure used in African countries, are also angling to assert control over the physical realm, too. Worth noting Meta has repeatedly claimed it is developing novel infrastructure only to bail after the public relations sheen had faded.