Africa has a connectivity problem that cannot be solved by building more mobile towers alone, according to a new study.

The GSMA and the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa (PDAA) have launched a roadmap aimed at helping connect one billion people to the internet by 2030, with a focus on the millions who already live within mobile broadband coverage but do not use mobile internet.

The roadmap titled "Advancing Digital Connectivity in Africa: Charting Africa’s Path to 1 Billion Connected People by 2030” was launched on Monday, September 21, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

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Findings of the GSMA assessment point to a divide between access and actual use of internet in Africa.

About 906 million people, almost 60 percent of the continent’s population, live in areas covered by mobile broadband but do not use mobile internet.

Another 122 million people, or 8 percent, remain outside mobile broadband coverage altogether. The roadmap draws on research from 11 African markets: DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

The roadmap estimates that halving the mobile internet usage gap across the 11 markets studied could bring about 245 million additional people online.

For Rwanda, the report places the emphasis on a different challenge: making sure people can afford and confidently use the digital infrastructure the country has already built.

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According to the baseline used in Rwanda’s ICT strategy, 38 percent of individuals owned a smartphone in 2025. The government has set a target of reaching 85 percent smartphone ownership by 2029.

The roadmap identifies three broad areas for action across Africa: moving users from older mobile networks to smartphones and faster networks such as 4G and 5G, coordinating investment in electricity and connectivity, and finding more affordable ways to extend services to rural and underserved communities.

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The first priority is particularly relevant to countries where mobile networks already reach large portions of the population. The roadmap calls for more than 600 million older mobile connections across Africa to transition toward smartphone-based internet use on 4G and 5G networks.

That shift, however, will depend on whether people can afford smartphones and have the skills to use them.

For Rwanda, the roadmap recommends expanding ways for people to finance smartphone purchases, strengthening practical digital skills, increasing the availability of content in Kinyarwanda and supporting local digital innovation.

The focus is also shifting from whether someone has received digital training to what they can actually do with the internet.

By 2030, the experts said in the road, progress should increasingly be measured by whether people regularly and confidently use trusted digital services for areas such as government services, finance, education, health and livelihoods.

That distinction matters, they argued, because someone may live under a mobile network, own or have access to a phone and still rarely use the internet independently.

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They said that countries will need different approaches depending on where their gaps are. Some still need to expand rural network coverage and electricity access. Others need to focus more on affordable smartphones, digital skills, online safety or services that give people a practical reason to go online.

The roadmap calls for energy and connectivity investments to be planned together, recognising that unreliable or expensive electricity can affect both the operation of telecommunications networks and people's ability to use digital devices.

For rural areas, GSMA proposes approaches including shared infrastructure, new technologies and public funding tied to measurable outcomes. It also points to schools, health facilities and other public institutions as potential sources of demand that can help make rural connectivity more sustainable.

The broader argument is that governments, telecom companies, investors and development organisations need to coordinate these efforts rather than treating infrastructure, devices, skills and digital services as separate projects.

The Partnership for Digital Access in Africa will act as a platform for public- and private-sector stakeholders to coordinate investment, reduce duplication and help expand solutions that have already shown results.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who co-chairs the platform, said the goal would require combining connectivity with electrification, affordable devices and digital skills.

John Giusti, GSMA chief regulatory officer and president of the GSMA Foundation, said Africa had already built much of the network infrastructure needed for its digital future, but affordability, skills, trust and useful services remained barriers to wider adoption.

"This roadmap shows how governments, industry and development partners can align investment and accountability around the outcomes that matter,” he said.

"Reaching one billion meaningfully connected Africans will require coordinated action across infrastructure, energy, devices, skills and digital services.”

Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou, CEO of the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa (PDAA), said the continent cannot build its digital future on connectivity alone.

"A network can reach a community, but meaningful participation depends on the conditions around it: reliable energy, affordable devices, digital skills and services people have a reason to use,” he said.

"This roadmap gives us a practical framework for bringing those conditions together and turning access into opportunity at scale.”