Botswana’s internet speed ranking went up the ladder in global rankings, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index which tracks African countries’ internet speeds at telcos and internet service providers.
Although Botswana was already holding a higher position in the worldwide rankings, fresh statistics from the index shows that Botswana’s internet speed increased by 15 slots to position 47. The announcement coincides with an increase in Botswana’s investments in network deployment and infrastructure.
According to the index, the mobile internet download speed in Botswana grew in 2022 from 19.93 megabits per second (mbps) in April, to 29.37 mbps in August to 43 mbps in December. This is way higher than the global average mobile download speed of 37.98 mbps. Likewise, Botswana improved in the worldwide rankings for mobile internet download speed from positions 94, 63, and 47 in April, August, and December of 2022, respectively. In 2022, the upload speed stayed constant, averaging 10.5 mbps. This is fairly higher than the global performance average of 9.75 mbps.
For fixed broadband, Botswana’s average download fixed broadband speed is 6.43 mbps while the upload speed averages 4.80 mbps. This is considerably slower than the global performance average upload and download speed of 33.36 mbps and 76.34 mbps, respectively.
Other African countries that improved their internet speed rankings include Mauritius, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. Malawi rose nine spots to 148, while Djibouti and Congo rose seven spots to 153 and 103, respectively, and Mauritius, Lesotho, and Guinea rose five spots each to 113, 127, and 154. Burkina Faso, previously ranked 102, jumped the most places in Africa’s mobile internet speeds, rising 22 places to rank 102.
On a monthly basis, the Speedtest Global Index compares internet speed data from around the world and the overall global median internet speeds. Researchers of the Ookla Speedtest Global Index 2022 say internet connectivity continues to advance for people all over the world, in particular as nations prioritise and better mobile and fixed broadband networks.
Fixed broadband speeds grew faster (28%) than mobile download speeds (17%) in the first 11 months of 2022, demonstrating the continent’s focus on increasing internet connectivity for its citizens. Ookla – a global network intelligence and connectivity research company – derives its data for the Speedtest global Index from the hundreds of millions of tests that are performed each month.
