Nigeria slips to 85th in global internet speed rankings as peers pull ahead

Nigeria’s expanding internet access is no longer translating into better online performance, as the country slipped to 85th place globally in internet speed, underscoring growing infrastructure pressure and a widening digital gap with regional peers.

According to the latest Speedtest Global Index by US-based research firm Ookla, Nigeria’s median mobile download speed stood at 44.14 Mbps by December 2025, down seven places from the previous ranking.

The report, which assessed mobile and fixed broadband performance across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), shows that while more Nigerians are online, network quality is struggling to keep pace with demand.

Within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), only three countries made the global top-100 list: South Africa (64th), Kenya (80th), and Nigeria (85th). South Africa retained its regional lead despite dropping five places globally, posting a median mobile download speed of 65.7 Mbps, while Kenya recorded 45.37 Mbps.

The results highlight a growing contrast across the region. While Nigeria continues to face infrastructure bottlenecks, other African markets are making sharper gains through fibre expansion and network modernisation. Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, recorded the biggest improvement in SSA, climbing to 103rd globally with a median download speed of 58.17 Mbps, despite relatively low fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage of between 15 percent and 19 per cent, according to Omdia.

Ookla noted that Côte d’Ivoire’s performance may be boosted by a user base concentrated on higher-speed connections, supported by competitive offerings such as Orange’s entry-level fixed broadband packages starting at 50 Mbps.

Elsewhere, Mauritania posted the largest ranking jump in SSA, rising 24 places to 106th globally after expanding its national backbone with 5,500 kilometres of fibre, with plans to add another 8,000 kilometres under its Digital Agenda 2022–2025.

Six SSA countries now rank within the global top-120, reflecting uneven but accelerating infrastructure investment across the continent.

South Africa remains unique in the region for its widespread use of wholesale-only fibre-to-the-premises networks, a model analysts say has helped improve competition and service quality.

Ookla said improvements in both fixed and mobile network performance typically result from a mix of network optimisation, architecture modernisation, technology upgrades, fibre expansion, commercial migration to higher-speed plans, quality-of-service regulation, and strategic policy support from governments and regulators.

While Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to dominate the MEA rankings, Nigeria’s slide signals a more urgent challenge, in that, without faster, more resilient networks, gains in internet penetration risk delivering diminishing economic returns, especially for digital services, fintech, remote work, and online education.

For Africa’s largest internet market, the message is that connecting more users is no longer enough, speed now matters just as much.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.

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