28 March 2023
Zimbabwe's government has announced it intends to increase internet penetration to above 75% by 2025.
Women’s affairs, community, small, and medium development minister Sithembiso Nyoni said the aim was to raise internet access in the next two years. The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe's (Potraz) second-quarter report of 2022 showed that internet penetration stood at 61.3%.
“The mobile penetration rate is expected to increase to 75.4 % by 2025 from the current 61.3%,” said Nyoni.
In neighbouring South Africa, 80% of the population of more than 60 million have access to the internet. As of 2022, the share of the total population of South Africa using the internet was nearly 80%. Internet access is South Africa is expected to grow to 90% by 2027.
The Zimbabwe telecoms regulator is funding the relocation of collocated towers to ensure marginalised communities have at least 2G connectivity enabling them to participate in the digital economy.
