According to the latest statistics from Net Index by Ookla, Rwanda as of 18th November 2012 is has the highest broadband speeds in Africa overtaking Ghana.
The latest broadband speed results, show that Rwanda currently has download speeds of up to 6.56 Mbps from 3.28 Mbps six months ago, emerging 74th the world. The country is followed by Libya with 4.98 Mbps and Ethiopia with 4.82 Mbps.
Ghana which ranked top with the fastest broadband speed in Africa in March 2012 has now dropped to the 4th position in the ranking with broadband download speeds of up to 4.28 Mbps, down from 5.14 Mbps about six months ago.
Speaking to The New Times yesterday, the Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana welcomed the development, although he said there is a lot more that Rwanda needs to do.
“This shows that our efforts are paying off although we still need to do more in the area of affordability of broadband.
“Rwanda’s performance in broadband speed is a result of deliberate efforts of the government that invested in fibre optic rollout and purchase of capacity,” said Nsengimana.
Other African countries with the fastest broadband speeds include Kenya with 4.35 Mbps, currently ranked 5th in Africa, dropping from 2nd position six months ago; Morocco with 3.51 Mbps, ranked 8th in Africa; and South Africa with 3.31 Mbps, ranked 10th in Africa and 118th in the world. Nigeria ranks 13th in Africa and 138th in the world with broadband download speeds of 2.73 Mbps and remains the second West African country with the fastest broadband speed after Ghana.
Ookla is the global leader in broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications. The company’s software and methodologies set the broadband industry standards for accuracy, popularity, ease of use and the subsequent development of statistical data.
Information from New Times and Ookla was used in this article
