• Government to invest CFA33 billion in rural connectivity between 2026 and 2027.
• Program will lean on new technologies, including DirectToDevice satellite links.
• Officials warn that coverage alone will not close the country’s digital divide.

The government of Côte d’Ivoire plans to invest CFA33 billion (about $58.4 million) between 2026 and 2027 to keep extending connectivity services in rural areas. Kalil Ibrahim Konaté, the minister of Digital Transition and Digitization, announced the plan on Wednesday, November 26, during the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco, which runs through November 28.

According to the minister, the National Rural Connectivity Program (PNCR) had already been allocated CFA28 billion for 2024 and 2025. For the next phase, Mr. Konaté stressed the need to rely on new technologies, including the deployment of a DirectToDevice solution that will allow users to connect directly to a low-Earth-orbit satellite. “This satellite constellation technology makes it possible to cover the entire territory, especially thanks to ground gateway systems that serve as relays between terrestrial infrastructure,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.

By August 2024, the government had brought connectivity to 175 localities and was targeting 575 by the end of 2025, reaching about 875,700 residents in rural areas. In 2023, 2G, 3G and 4G networks covered 98.7 %, 98.1 % and 91.5 % of the Ivorian population respectively, according to the International Telecommunication Union. In terms of adoption, the organization put mobile telephony penetration at 66.5 %, compared with 40.7 % for Internet access.

Officials and experts note, however, that extending coverage to rural areas does not automatically reduce the digital divide, despite the government’s ambitions. Beyond network availability, the uptake of services depends on several factors, including the high cost of compatible devices, limited digital skills, the price of data plans, the relevance of available content and services, security concerns, the quality of the user experience, and the influence of social norms.

Isaac K. Kassouwi