The towers of babble (are falling)

Here’s a curious fact. Only a small fraction of Africans who have access to the internet go online at all.

They have coverage, they have phones, but they’re offline.

This week on Tech Safari, we’re diving into the ironic world of internet penetration in Africa, and a new trend that could change how it works.

Let’s get into…not so fast. Before we start, we want to tell you something…

Now, let’s get into it….

Africa’s digital economy is built on two things: mobile phones and the internet.

Across the continent, mobile phones are everywhere.

Last year, the continent hit 650 mobile phone users.

But when it comes to the internet, it’s a different story.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than a third of mobile phones in Africa connect to the internet at all.

It turns out that having a phone doesn’t always equal going online.

And in Africa, there’s a big reason for that.

The towers of babble

To go online in Africa, you have to go through a “cartel”—aka The Telcos.

• If you’re in Kenya, your only options are Safaricom and Airtel

• If you’re in Morocco, you’re stuck with Maroc Telecom

• And if you’re in Nigeria, you'd better have access to MTN and Airtel

Sure, there are some other telcos in these countries, but they have such little market share, they might as well not exist.

These companies spend a fortune on operations.

Cell towers, which cost up to $100,000 to build, and diesel generators to keep them on.

Spectrum licenses which cost as much as $285 million in Nigeria alone.

Add in network upgrades, maintenance, staffing and operations, and costs climb higher than the cell towers themselves.

And telcos want their money back—with extra.

So naturally, they pass those costs to you, the user.

The result?

Africans pay some of the highest rates for data (especially if you’re broke).

• In Zimbabwe, you could pay around $43 per GB.

• In Malawi, it’s $25 for a gigabyte.

• And in Equatorial Guinea, it’s almost $50.

Who locked the phones out?

As you’d expect, the high cost of going online keeps many people offline.

Despite phones being commonplace, only 27% of people are online in Sub-Saharan Africa.

And it’s a problem because in Africa, data isn’t just data—it’s access.

Without it, you can’t

• Access your bank apps

• Get digital loans

• Learn digital skills to earn money

• And stay connected to friends and family

The average person in Sub-Saharan Africa makes $47 a month.

And 1GB costs $6.44 on average.

For those who can afford it, they’ll eek out the cash to stay online—because it’s that important. 

For those who can’t, well, tough luck.

So it’s no shock that, despite the high cost, data has been a cash cow for telcos in Africa.

For instance, Safaricom’s data revenue went up 24% last year to hit 67.4 billion KES ($521.8 million), despite multiple outages and a tariff increase.

But if there’s one thing Africa has taught the world, it’s this:

When the formal system prices people out, the streets will invent a workaround.

And they did.

Meet MVNOs, the new kid on the block 

What if you could build and operate a telco without spending a fortune on towers and generators?

Well, there’s a new kind of telco that’s built just like that.

They’re called Mobile Virtual Network Operators—or MVNOs for short.

MVNOs don’t own (or build) cell towers.

Instead, they rent space on the big networks, then build their own brand, pricing, and customer experience on top.

Think of it like leasing a car—but repainting it, souping up the engine, and offering better rides at cheaper prices.

This rewires the internet experience for Africans in many ways

1. You can access multiple telco networks at once, letting you stay connected all the time

2. They’re much cheaper than traditional telcos because they have lower costs

3. And they give the users something they’ve never really had - options.

But instead of going up against the same guys they lease space from, MVNOs are giving themselves a new face—offering customized internet to people.

And it works, because…

Africans are not your regular internet users

Africans broadly use the internet for two reasons:

• Staying connected to other people (through messaging, content and entertainment)

• And to buy things (food, airtime, or sometimes…a betting ticket)

Last year, WhatsApp was Africa’s most popular app, with over 400 million users.

The next five on the list are also social apps. Then M-PESA, Opay, Bolt, and Jumia come further down.

Looking at this, one thing’s clear. 

Africans use the internet to solve real, specific, daily needs—payment, transport and human connection.

But to access these platforms, a typical MTN user would often buy a general bundle for the week or month.

Then they use the apps they want until the bundle expires - or worse, it runs out.

For people already paying through the nose for bandwidth, the cost goes even higher.

But what if there was a way for them to pay for just what they need or use?

That’s where MVNOs shine. They’re starting to

• Target underserved niches (youth, remote workers, SMEs)
  

• Create more flexible data bundles (specific to events or apps)
  

• And build stronger customer loyalty with a simpler experience

The coolest part, many of the companies riding the trend aren’t even from the telco world.

They’re banks, shopping sites, and loan companies looking to get closer to the people who really need them.

Like 

• Capitec Bank in South Africa, which rolled out its MVNO service and got 1.3 million users in two years. It currently sells 5GB of data for R100 (~$5).
  

• K’nect Mobile is a network run by Shoprite, South Africa’s biggest supermarket chain
  

• And Vitel Wireless is a Nigerian MVNO that just got its license to operate like a big telco

And thanks to technologies like eSIMs and digital onboarding, it’s easier than ever to spin up an MVNO without breaking the bank.

An MVNO license in Nigeria can cost as little as $22,000.

But the MVNOs themselves are well placed to make bank.

In Nigeria alone, 46 MVNO licenses have been issued already.

And Africa’s MVNO market is projected to hit $4 billion by 2028.

In case you haven’t noticed, the rise of MVNOs says one thing…

Your internet comes in a sachet now

In Africa, when something is too expensive, we find a way to sell it in sachets.

• Bottled water? Reimagined as pure water sachets.
  

• Packaged milk? Sold in smaller, single-use packs.
  

• Even early airtime? Bought in micro top-ups as low as 50 Naira.
  

This trend — sachetization — takes a premium product and breaks it down into affordable, accessible units for the masses.

And now, we’re seeing sachetization hit telecom.

MVNOs are creating “sachets” of connectivity:

• Micro data plans
  

• Hyper-specific bundles
  

• And a bigger set of options
  

Instead of locking you into an expensive monthly plan, you can now buy connectivity the way you buy a cold sachet of water on a hot afternoon:

On-demand, cheap, and within reach.

And it’s the second phase of Africa’s internet story.

Africa’s mobile revolution, Episode Two

The first mobile revolution was simple:

Get a phone in every hand.

The next? Get affordable and personalised internet connectivity into every hand.

MVNOs might just be the golden bullet— sachetizing internet access, disrupting big telco, and connecting millions who have been left behind.

So, what do you think:

• Will MVNOs be good for Africa?
  

• And what else have you seen “sachetized” in African tech?
  

Hit reply and let me know.

That’s it for this week. Sunday for a breakdown on This Week in African Tech.

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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