04 March 2025

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) has unveiled a new report that evaluates the readiness of African countries to roll out and utilize 5G networks across the continent.

The ‘Report on 5G Preparedness and Relevant Use Cases in Africa’ estimates that Africa’s internet use at 38% of the population against a global average of 68%. To bridge the gaps in both universal and more so meaningful connectivity, Africa, led by the African Union and supported by various institutions, is implementing the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020–2030).

ATU is actively undertaking various initiatives aimed at supporting the full and innovative implementation of the said strategy. Besides supporting the DTS, it is the statutory objective of the ATU to ‘promote programmes for the development of the African Information Society’, by promoting the development and adoption of appropriate African telecommunications policy and regulatory frameworks.

The report focusses on assessing the readiness of African countries to deploy, operate and use 5G networks. The report further explores challenges impacting the deployment of 5G in Africa and the status of deployment in countries that have already embarked on the process. Even more significantly, prominent locally relevant use cases for 5G are well elaborated. In the concluding sections, the report provides recommendations to support decision-making for the deployment of 5G networks and use cases in Africa with the ultimate objective of fostering its maximised benefit.

“I earnestly appeal to our Member States to exercise utmost political and technical goodwill towards this report. The recommendations on 5G usage are crucial, and the success of their implementation will have far-reaching impact on the societies and economies across our continent,” said John OMO, Secretary-General, ATU.