Internet Freedom in Africa Remains Uneven in 2026 Despite Rising Access

By : La Rédaction

Date : vendredi, 03 avril 2026 16:30

Internet freedom levels vary widely across African countries, with Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, and Seychelles leading.
Some countries, including Sudan and Egypt, impose severe digital restrictions.
Internet shutdowns cost sub-Saharan Africa $1.11 billion in 2025 despite a slight decline from 2024.

Internet access continues to expand across Africa, but online freedom remains highly uneven depending on the country, reflecting political and socio-economic dynamics, according to a recent report.

A report published in mid-March by Cloudwards shows that some countries provide relatively open digital environments, while others impose strict restrictions that limit online expression and innovation.

The report, titled “Mapped: Internet Freedom by Country in 2026,” evaluates internet freedom on a scale from 0 to 100. It measures access to political and civic content, social media usage, and VPN access. It also assesses censorship practices, platform blocking, and potential penalties faced by users, offering a comprehensive view of both technical access and actual freedom of expression online.

Contrasting Levels of Digital Freedom Across Countries

Across Africa, several countries record relatively high levels of internet freedom. Cabo Verde ranks highest on the continent with a score of 84, alongside Côte d’Ivoire and Seychelles, which post identical scores.

A second group of countries—including Benin, Niger, Gambia, and Liberia—follows with scores of 76, reflecting generally open digital environments. Ghana completes the leading group with a score of 72.

Meanwhile, a middle-tier group—including Angola, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Mauritius—records intermediate scores of 68, indicating moderate freedom levels with some limitations.

By contrast, countries such as Sudan and Egypt rank among the most restrictive, each scoring 12, highlighting severe constraints on online content and digital expression.

Between these extremes, most African countries fall into an intermediate category. Morocco, South Africa, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Rwanda each score around 56, reflecting mixed environments with both openness and constraints.

Costly Digital Restrictions

Beyond governance concerns, digital restrictions impose significant economic costs.

A separate report titled “The Cost of Internet Shutdowns in 2025” by Top10VPN estimates that internet shutdowns cost sub-Saharan Africa approximately $1.11 billion in 2025.

This figure marks a slight decline from 2024, when losses reached $1.56 billion. However, the economic impact remains substantial amid continued disruptions.

In 2025, authorities recorded more than 24,000 hours of internet shutdowns, affecting approximately 116 million users across the region. These disruptions most often occurred during political tensions, elections, or security crises and directly impacted digital economies and access to essential services.

Globally, such shutdowns generated estimated losses of $19.7 billion.

Samira Njoya

African Countries, by Internet Freedom Score (2026)

Country Score

Cape Verde 84

Ivory Coast 84

Seychelles 84

Benin 76

Gambia 76

Liberia 76

Madagascar 76

Namibia 76