by South Africa is on the cusp of a fibre revolution.
All the major ISPs (and a few smaller ones) are investing heavily in fibre internet, with the intention of bringing faster speeds and better overall internet connectivity.
According to internet live stats, South Africa has a total of 28 580 290 internet users. That equates to approximately 52% of the population. This is 3.9% more users than one year ago.
South Africa’s Internet Speed Versus The World’s
With so many people accessing the internet locally, you can’t help but wonder how South Africa’s internet speeds compare to those of other countries around the world.
According to Statista, the global average internet speed has dropped slightly in Q2 of 2016, with the average speed now coming in at 6.1mbps.
In comparison, South Africa is reaching an average connection speed of 4.8mbps according to a report published by Akamai.
Compared to other African countries included in the Akamai report, South Africa ranked as the second highest in terms of average internet speeds for the first quarter of 2016.
| Country / Region | Q1 2016 Avg. Mbps | Q1 2016 Peak Mbps |
| Kenya | 5.9 | 20.4 |
| South Africa | 4.8 | 28.8 |
| Angola | 4.7 | 86.8 |
| Tunisia | 4.0 | 33.7 |
| Morocco | 3.9 | 27.3 |
| Egypt | 3.7 | 19.3 |
| Namibia | 3.0 | 32.9 |
| Ghana | 2.6 | 11.7 |
| Algeria | 2.2 | 29.5 |
While this might be good news, South Africa’s average internet speed has not improved much over the past few years:
On a global scale, South Africa ranks quite far below the countries with the highest average internet speeds:
Here’s to hoping that, with the adoption of fibre, internet connectivity speeds will improve in South Africa.
*Stats sourced from www.statista.com.
