Africa's Digital Decade: Will Google’s Prediction Become a Reality?

Fifty-five years ago, in 1969, a team of researchers at UCLA transmitted a message from their university’s room-sized computer to another machine at Stanford. This simple communication birthed what we now know as the internet, a technology that has revolutionized almost every aspect of modern life. Fast forward to today: computers has shrunk to fit in our pockets, wireless networks have become the norm, and about two-thirds of the world’s population is now connected to the internet.

For individuals, access to the internet has unlocked opportunities in work, education, healthcare, and more—opportunities that remain out of reach for those still offline. On a national level, digital connectivity has led to more productive workforces, higher living standards, and economic growth. Yet, these benefits remain elusive for the majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa, where internet adoption is just 37%.

However, tech giant Google predicts that the next decade could change that. According to secondary research, the company has dubbed the next ten years “sub-Saharan Africa’s digital decade,” with forecasts that 70% of the region’s population could be online by 2030. To understand what this could mean for sub-Saharan Africa, we need to look at the history of digital technology on the continent, Google’s efforts to bring its predictions to life, and the steps necessary to ensure internet access benefits all of Africa’s residents—especially the most vulnerable.

The History of Africa’s Digital Journey

The story of Africa’s digital transformation began in the 1960s, when universities, corporations, and governments first acquired modern computers. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that the continent made its first significant leap forward in digital communication, when researchers at Rhodes University in South Africa sent the continent’s first email to a software engineer in Oregon.

From there, the internet slowly began to spread. According to secondary research in 1991, Tunisia established Africa’s first internet connection, followed by South Africa. By 1993, the SAT-2 submarine broadband cable connected South Africa to Spain and Portugal, marking the first fiber optic link between Africa and the rest of the world. Despite these advancements, progress in sub-Saharan Africa lagged far behind the rest of the globe. By 2001, more than half of North America was online, while less than 1% of sub-Saharan Africans had internet access.

Things began to change in 2009, when the Seacom cable connected East Africa to Europe and India, giving the region its first reliable broadband connection. Projects like the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS), launched in 2013, aimed to increase internet traffic routed locally, which helped lower costs. By 2021, 64% of sub-Saharan Africans owned a smartphone, but the cost of data remained prohibitively high, preventing many from using these devices to get online.