CEM REPORT, ICT | A recent report has revealed that Nigerians are paying more for internet service than they are getting.
Nigeria ranks 109th globally with an index of 0.0017, which is 44 times lower than the global average.
According to Global Internet Value Index (IVi) which was just released by Surfshark, Nigeria ranks 16th regional with its index 56% lower than Africa’s average, while the country is 12th in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report reveals that 4 out of every 10 people can access the internet at a fair price.
South Africa leads the continent, while Egypt ranks second, followed by Morocco.
The Northern Africa subregion performs better overall, with the average index of its 4 countries being 2 times higher than Sub-Saharan Africa’s.
All Northern African countries have above-average internet value, while only 1 in 4 (26.3%) Sub-Saharan African countries do. Zimbabwe and Uganda are the lowest-ranking African countries, followed closely by Cameroon.
Furthermore, the report shows that Oceania and Europe lead the world in internet value, while internet affordability in North America, South America, and Africa is below average.
The report adds that globally, only 4 out of 10 people get their internet at fair prices, while the remaining 61% overpay for the internet they get.
Commenting on the report, Lead Researcher at Surfshark, Agneska Sablovskaja, said:
“Internet Value index offers to look at internet connection from a practical perspective – whether we get what we pay for. Even economically affluent countries with relatively fast internet can overpay compared to others worldwide.
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“However, some countries may have slower internet but also pay a considerably lower price, which is then considered fair.”
The Surfshark Global Internet Value Index study ranks 117 countries and territories based on the Internet Value index (IVi), which is determined by fixed broadband internet and mobile internet speed-to-affordability ratios. It focuses on four indicators directly influencing the quality to affordability aspect, which include:
The time to work to afford fixed broadband internet (hours).
The time to work to afford mobile internet (hours).
Median fixed broadband download speed (Mbps).
Median mobile internet download speed (Mbps).
