A quiet digital revolution is beginning to take flight in Central Africa– a region where thick jungles and vast savannas have for long outpaced fibre-optic cables.
For decades, countries like the Central African Republic, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have ranked among the lowest in global internet access—held back by high cellphone tower installation and management costs, conflict, and challenging terrain that made broadband expansion difficult.
While a country like the DRC enjoys among the lowest internet costs in Africa, a paltry 30% of its more than 105 million population are online.
Chad has 13% of its population with internet access, and the Central African Republic (11%) fares even worse, with vast regions completely unconnected, lagging behind Africa’s average internet access of 36%, according to the International Telecommunication Union.
But a new wave of progress is emerging. These countries are pushing to modernise their economies and close the digital access gap across the conflict-affected region.
DRC, the second-largest country in Africa, with vast rural areas, dense forests, and limited road networks, is leading the region’s charge towards the digital future with significant developments in its telecommunication sector- headlined by forays into 5G and Satellite internet services.
In early May, the DRC – previously hesitant and even restrictive—granted Starlink a national license, in a dramatic policy U-turn, driven by growing public demand for better digital infrastructure and economic pressure to modernise.
“Starlink is now authorised to operate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an internet service provider, following the regularisation of its administrative status. The company will officially launch its services in the coming days,” Christian Katende, the President of Regulatory Authority of Posts and Telecommunications of Congo (ARPTC) said in a media statement.
In March 2024, the Congolese government had initially banned the use of Starlink due to concerns over misuse by armed groups, including Rwandan-backed M23.
In November 2024, Chad became one of the first Central African nations to formally greenlight the satellite-based internet service after approving Starlink’s operations.
At the time, Chad’s Minister of Communications, Digital Economy, and Administrative Digitalisation, Minister Boukar Michel, expressed optimism about Starlink’s potential to address the longstanding challenges of internet reliability and affordability, in line with Chad’s larger effort to close connectivity gaps and support digital transformation.
Angola, which initially aimed to launch Starlink services in 2024, is now targeting late 2025 according to Starlink’s availability map, which also shows countries like the Republic of the Congo and Benin scheduling to green light the satellite internet service this year.
Equatorial Guinea plans to activate Starlink in 2026, and while the Central African Republic flashes its services date as ‘unknown’, Starlink’s growing presence in neighbouring countries could increase regional pressure for latecomers to follow suit.
The DRC and Chad have reached out to international financiers to support their quest to enhance their digital strategy.
In March, the DRC secured US$500 million from the French Development Agency and the World Bank to enhance internet access, targeting 30 million citizens, reduce costs, and improve coverage, especially in underserved areas.
In April, Chad’s State Minister Tahir Hamid Nguilin met with World Bank officials to discuss assistance in improving financial administration, connectivity, and digital government services.
Key priorities for Chad include digitising civil registry records, transforming school curricula, expanding e-learning, and fostering local innovation.
Africa’s giant telcos are also playing a role in pushing for digital transformation in the region with launch of 5G network by MTN Congo in October 2024 as Vodacom and Orange early 2025 formed a new infrastructure joint venture to improve mobile network coverage in rural areas- through a cost sharing model to ‘sustainably’ install and run cell towers in DRC and other countries.
“The initiative will extend network coverage and enable access to telecommunications and mobile financial services to up to 19 million people in less densely populated rural communities, reinforcing their commitment to bridging the digital divide and driving inclusive growth,” the telcos said in a joint statement early in the year.
While all these are positive developments, they reflect the underlying challenges countries in conflict zones have been facing in their digital transformation quest.
A 2024 GSMA report shed light on why there has been low investment in telecommunication infrastructure in most remote parts of Africa.
The report, titled “Rural Renewal: Telcos and Sustainable Energy in Africa”, lists low population density, rising energy costs, expenses related to backhaul infrastructure, and the necessity for strong towers as key factors that strain the operators financially, hindering many operators from expanding coverage in rural areas.
“A base station in a remote, rural area costs, on average, 35–40% more for an operator to run than in a city, though this can be higher in some countries,” according to the GSMA analysis.
Backhaul- has the highest percentage of cost premium for a mobile base station in remote areas at 110% compared to one in urban areas, followed by energy costs (+37%) and cost of installing towers and settling technicians pay at 27%.
In the DRC, 75% of mobile towers in off-grid areas rely on diesel, with fuel and transport accounting for up to 60% of operating costs.
The GSMA study analysed 45 networks across 34 countries, covering operators such as Airtel Africa, MTN, Orange, Vodacom, Safaricom, Ethio Telecom, and Axian.
Starlink, now active in 17 African countries, offers a compelling alternative- Its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology bypasses the need for ground infrastructure—ideal for remote or conflict-prone regions.
This capability is particularly transformative in regions where laying fibre-optic cables has proved impractical because of geographical challenges or security concerns.
In other conflict-affected countries like Sudan and South Sudan, humanitarian organisations have relied on Starlink for essential communications, even as broader country access remains limited by regulatory and logistical barriers.
By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency
