According to new estimates by eMarketer, the internet population of the Middle East and Africa will only achieve 301 million this year, equivalent to just 20% of the population. Whilst the global average penetration rate is just below 45%, data recently made available from Uganda, Ethiopia and Ghana indicates an extremely low monthly internet use rate. The data suggests that only 16% of people in the sub-Saharan African region use the internet once a month, and this is only expected to reach 20% by 2020. An eMarketer analyst said that the reason behind the low levels of growth is “underdeveloped infrastructure and low literacy rates, as well as the high cost of mobile phones”, in addition to governments not encouraging easy access to the internet.
