TC INSIGHTS: more players, lower prices If you had access to the internet anywhere in Africa 20 years ago, you were a member of the 4.5 million club. Back then, Africa lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of internet users. Twenty years and 560 million users later, the gap has reduced. Although there’s been significant progress, the work is far from done. Only 43% of Africans had access to the internet as at December 31st, 2020. A large number of Africans access the internet via their smartphones. As of October 2020, the majority of web traffic in key African markets originated from mobile devices. In Nigeria, one of the African countries with the largest internet populations, 75% of web traffic was generated via smartphones and only 24% via PC devices. This is because mobile connections are cheaper and don’t need the infrastructure required for desktop PCs with fixed-line internet connections.