In the coming weeks, Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, will be able to beam down satellite-based internet to the whole world. "We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites, and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage,” Starlink President, Gwynne Shotwell, said in late June. Starlink is aiming to reach the African connectivity market with Beta tests as early as 2022.

Google started working on African connectivity in 2011 through the CSquared project, building metropolitan fiber-optic networks, which are leased by Mobile Network Operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on a wholesale model. The project became an independent company in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group), under a consolidated fund of $100 million, to invest in broadband internet infrastructure in Africa.

It currently operates over 890 kilometers of metropolitan fiber in the cities of Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda; more than 1070 kilometers of fiber in three cities in Ghana and 180 kilometers in Monrovia, Liberia.

Facebook’s 2Africa project, a partnership between the tech titan and several international telecom operators, recently announced it would be adding four new branches to its underwater fiber-optic ring around Africa.

Seychelles, Comoro Islands, Angola, and Nigeria will join the other 26 countries on the list, encompassing Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

 The project aims to begin operating in 2023, with 37,000 km (22,990 miles) of fiber-optic cables that will be deployed from Europe, via Egypt, and the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and 21 landings in 16 African countries. Once live, 2Africa should be able to serve more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa at the moment.

So, could this finally mean a case of internet inclusivity? With dozens of countries across the continent set to be linked soon, things on the surface seem as if that vision could take place. But under the surface, things are less clear-cut, as it takes much more than availability to reach hundreds of millions of people across the sub-Saharan region.

The missing link

Today, internet penetration in Africa is at an all-time high of 39.3%, according to Statista, compared to the global average of 58.8%. The numbers in the western hemisphere are significantly higher, reaching 80-100%. Two main issues are hindering full connectivity across Africa. The first is availability, and that seems to be addressed by the projects mentioned above.

The second is affordability, and this is where things get a bit more complicated. Today, 4 out of 5 countries with the highest prices for internet access in the world are placed in sub-Saharan Africa. According to GSMA, the average cost of 1GB represents 4.2% of monthly GDP per capita. For a population that encompasses the poorest communities in the world, with more than 500 million living in extreme poverty conditions, these prices are not just a hurdle but a tall, impenetrable wall.

And the solutions mentioned above are currently not offering direly-needed relief. Starlink now costs $99 for a monthly subscription and a further $499 for the kit. SpaceX is expected to maintain this pricing for other countries. Google’s now private initiative provides internet access to tens of millions, but most of them reside in urban and semi-urban communities. 2Africa has yet to announce pricing plans. Since it is a consortium that involves MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC, most of which are already offering connectivity across the continent, drastic measures will be crucial for the poorest communities to be able to benefit from their solution.

Connectivity in Africa has never been more crucial

Albeit an already essential service, Covid-19 has pushed the importance of internet access across Africa even further. A six-nation survey conducted by GeoPoll in May shows that Africa’s leading economies are sliding back into poverty due to the financial and social impacts of the global pandemic. The poll conducted among people from the Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa found that Covid-19 was a leading cause of rising unemployment.

Global poverty had been declining before Covid-19. Extreme poverty, defined as those living in households spending less than $1.90 per person per day, had fallen from 1.9 billion people in 1990 to 648 million in 2019 and was on pace to reach 537 million by 2030. According to the UN, Covid-19 interrupted this trend. The absolute number of people living in extreme poverty rose for the first time since 1997, and Brookings Institute researchers do not expect global poverty headcounts to fall below 2019 levels until 2023. In some countries, the impacts will last far longer.

Estimates show that by 2030, 588 million people could still live in extreme poverty, an additional 50 million people compared with pre-Covid estimates. The face of global poverty is likewise changing. In 2020, 64% of the poor lived in sub-Saharan Africa, and 21% lived in South Asia.

By 2030, however, South Asia could have largely ended extreme poverty. Meanwhile, due to continued population growth and low economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa could be home to 84% of the world’s poor.

Internet access could lift hundreds of millions from debilitating poverty, according to a joint GSMA and World Bank report. The research took place in Nigeria, the largest mobile market and economy in Africa. Between 2010 and 2015, mobile broadband coverage in the country increased from 21 to 51 per cent, and by the end of 2019, there were more than 170 million mobile connections.

The research found that mobile broadband not only improved welfare, but its effects grew with time. After a year with access, the total consumption of households increased by about 6 per cent. After two years of coverage, this rate increases to 8 percent.

 Extreme poverty for these households declined by about 4 percentage points after one year and about 7 percentage points after two or more years. This corresponded to lifting approximately 2.5 million people out of extreme poverty in the country, and the welfare effects were particularly pronounced for rural households.

Today differences in internet access between rural and urban areas are colossal, with smartphone usage in urban areas exceeding that of rural areas by almost 200 percent in some countries. A policy framework that supports the expansion of mobile broadband networks, especially in rural and remote areas, coupled with a focus on methods to deliver extreme affordability, is crucial in lifting future billions out of poverty. This should be a joint effort of local governments and tech giants alike on the path to reaching an inclusive reality driven by technological advancements.

The writer is an entrepreneur and investor,leading sustainability-driven companies in Africa and the Middle East