A new global study on digital quality of life has ranked Nigeria as the country with the least affordable internet service in the world.
Surfshark, a virtual private network provider disclosed in its 2020 DQL index report released on Monday that Nigeria was the least ranked country in terms of internet affordability and rates.
The country ranked 85th of the 85 indexed countries just below Columbia and Honduras.
Nigerians have to work 27 minutes 55 seconds to afford 1 GB of mobile internet against the global average of 10 minutes.
The report read, “Israel stands out as the country with the most affordable internet globally and is followed by Canada and Azerbaijan. Whereas, Columbia, Honduras, and Nigeria are at the bottom of the internet affordability pillar.”
“On a global average, individuals must work three hours and 48 minutes a month to pay for even the cheapest broadband package. However, this duration varies depending on the location. In Nigeria, it is almost 34 hours; in Honduras, 10 hours; in the US, 52 minutes; and in Canada, 7 minutes,” it added.
Of the six African countries studied in the report, South Africa ranks highest (34th) followed by Tunisia (64th), Algeria (66th), Morocco, (71st), and Kenya (74th) while Nigeria finishes the entire list at 85th.
Surfshark VPN detailed that people in 75 percent of the researched countries have to work more than the global average to afford the internet
The virtual private network provider added that Africa and America possessed the world’s slowest and least affordable internet service.
“People living in Oceania have the most affordable internet access, followed by Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, households in Africa and the Americas reported significantly lower results than the global average,” the report revealed.
“World regions where people on average pay the most for mobile and fixed broadband internet services also contend with the worst quality internet in terms of stability and speed.”
Despite various government initiatives and a National Broadband plan, there’s much work to be done before Nigeria experiences quality and affordable Internet.