• 85.8% of Malawi’s 8,939 schools lack internet access despite national digital ambitions.

• Nearly 47% of schools have no electricity, making connectivity structurally impossible.

• Limited access to digital tools risks widening skills gaps in a rapidly evolving labor market.

Malawi aims to position itself as a competitive player in Africa’s digital economy. However, the data highlights a stark gap. The School Connectivity Landscape Analysis Report, presented on Friday, April 17 by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, covers 8,939 schools serving more than 6 million students. The report shows that 85.8% of these institutions have no internet access.

The data is not an estimate. The analysis provides a comprehensive mapping based on the UNICEF-ITU Giga partnership, a joint initiative between the United Nations agency and the International Telecommunication Union aimed at connecting all schools worldwide by 2030. The project references each school with verified GPS coordinates.

A further constraint worsens the situation. Nearly 47% of schools lack electricity, which makes internet connectivity impossible. These two realities remain structurally linked.

What This Means for Malawi’s Students

Behind these figures, an entire generation is developing without access to tools required in the modern workforce. In January 2025, only 18% of Malawi’s population used the internet, representing 3.95 million people out of 21.9 million, according to DataReportal. Students currently excluded from digital access risk reinforcing this gap in the future.

The International Telecommunication Union reports fewer than one fixed broadband subscription per 100 inhabitants. Most students lack access to basic digital functions such as information search, word processing, and online communication. In a rapidly evolving African labor market, this deficit creates a direct barrier to employment.

Malawi’s digital performance remains below the sub-Saharan African average, according to a 2024 analysis published on ResearchGate. This gap places the country at a structural disadvantage, including relative to neighboring economies.

Some initiatives are addressing the challenge, although their scale remains limited. The BEFIT (Building Education Foundations through Innovation and Technology) program, launched in 2023, has provided solar energy to 500 schools and reached 277,000 students, according to the Global Partnership for Education.

In September 2025, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) launched phase two of the Connect A School project. The program plans to deploy 120 new computer labs with free internet access for three years.

A World Bank study published in June 2025 highlights measurable progress. The Digital Foundations project reduced wholesale internet prices from $460 per Mbps per month to less than $10 between 2017 and 2024. However, this improvement has yet to significantly benefit rural areas, where more than 80% of the population lives.

The gap remains substantial, and the path to full school connectivity continues to require sustained investment and infrastructure expansion.

This article was initially published in French by Félicien Houindo Lokossou

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum