Millions of Africans have internet coverage but are not online. Here’s why

Africa’s push to connect one billion people by 2030 faces a bigger challenge than network coverage: getting the hundreds of millions already within reach of a signal to use the internet meaningfully.

In 2025, about 550 million Africans, or 36% of the continent’s population, used the internet, up from 16% in 2015. That remains far below the global internet usage rate of 74%, underscoring the gap Africa must close to meet its regional digital inclusion goals. But the challenge is…