The GSMA and the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa (PDAA) have launched a new roadmap to accelerate meaningful digital participation across Africa. The roadmap, titled "Advancing Digital Connectivity in Africa: Charting Africa's Path to 1 Billion Connected People by 2030," was unveiled during the United Nations General Assembly. It sets out priority actions for governments, industry, development partners, and investors to move beyond expanding network coverage and enable more people to use the internet regularly, safely, and productively.
According to the GSMA's State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2026, 3.1 billion people globally live within mobile broadband coverage but do not use mobile internet. In Africa, this usage gap is estimated to be around 906 million people, almost 60% of the continent's population. In contrast, 122 million people, or 8% of the population, still live beyond the reach of a mobile broadband network. The roadmap draws on analysis of 11 diverse African markets, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
The roadmap identifies three priorities for accelerating meaningful digital participation: accelerating migration from 2G and 3G to smartphone-based participation, converting over 600 million legacy mobile connections into meaningful internet use on 4G and 5G networks. It also emphasizes integrating energy and connectivity investment, recognizing reliable electricity as essential to network economics, device use, and participation in the digital economy. Additionally, the roadmap highlights the need to reduce the cost of reaching rural and underserved communities through shared infrastructure and innovative technologies.
Hon. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Co-Chair of PDAA and former President of Liberia, emphasized that the goal is ambitious but achievable. She stressed the importance of bringing together connectivity, electrification, affordable devices, and digital skills, and matching Africa's many promising programs with the power of genuine public-private partnership. John Giusti, GSMA Chief Regulatory Officer, noted that Africa has already built much of the network foundation for its digital future, and the urgent task now is to close the usage gap by making smartphones and services affordable.
The roadmap calls for stakeholders to replace standalone interventions with a coordinated delivery model that connects policy, infrastructure, energy, devices, skills, safety, and relevant digital services. PDAA will serve as a platform to bring together public- and private-sector stakeholders, align investment pipelines, reduce duplication, share risk, and help proven solutions scale across markets. The roadmap also urges governments, industry, and development partners to measure progress through meaningful digital participation and socioeconomic outcomes.
Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou, CEO of PDAA, emphasized that Africa cannot build its digital future on connectivity alone. He stressed that a network can reach a community, but meaningful participation depends on the conditions around it, including reliable energy, affordable devices, digital skills, and services people have a reason to use. The roadmap provides a practical framework for bringing those conditions together and turning access into opportunity at scale.
The roadmap was formally presented at an event at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, bringing together stakeholders to discuss the collective action needed to accelerate meaningful digital participation across Africa. The GSMA and PDAA aim to connect one billion Africans to the internet by 2030, recognizing that digital access is essential for socioeconomic development and opportunity.
Key points
- The roadmap prioritizes faster migration to 4G and 5G, coordinated energy and connectivity investment, and more sustainable ways to connect rural communities.
- The usage gap in Africa is estimated to be around 906 million people, almost 60% of the continent's population.
- The roadmap calls for a coordinated delivery model that connects policy, infrastructure, energy, devices, skills, safety, and relevant digital services.
