Somalia has been declared seventh cheapest data prices country across the globe, a move indicating affordability of Internet in the horn of Africa nation which rises from ashes of two-decade old civil war.
According to newly released by British technology research firm Cable, Somalia is steadily laying the foundation of its digital transformation journey, and is overtaking most countries.
The report which focused on the average cost of 1GB of mobile data in 228 countries in 2020 stated that Somalis pay the cheapest prices for data, at $.055 for a gigabyte of data.
“Somalia has the cheapest data in Africa, where 1GB costs $53 on average, from S0.662 last year. It is seventh in the world. In East Africa,” the report reads.
The research attributed this to the low data provision monopoly in Somalia’s telecommunication industry, where 11 players have battled it out in the past 12 months in a bid to win customer satisfaction, thereby lowering the average cost of mobile internet.
The report stated that Tanzania is the leading country after Somalia in East Africa with citizens paying 0.78 per GB for the service.
In Sudan, Algeria, Reunion, Ghana, Western Sahara, Morocco and Mayotte, citizens pay $0.68, $0.7, $0.77, $1.01, $1.06, $1.06 and $1.16, respectively.
Zambia, Tunisia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Guinea, Burundi, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Mauritius all make it in the top 100, surpassing developed economies such as Germany, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, New Zealand, Norway and Netherlands.
