Past the Headlines: The Best Signal You Won't Always Get
Article 2 of the Past the Headline series on making Africa actionable as a market
If you missed Article 1, the short version: this series takes one recurring claim about Africa at a time and asks what it actually means when you are operating on the ground. Not to debunk, not to discourage. To fill in the gap between the headline and the reality, because that gap is where the interesting work is. Want to read the full story? Check it here.
This one is about connectivity. And it has a number that will stop you in your tracks.
The number
Before we get to Morocco specifically, the continental picture matters. The overall number of internet users in Africa jumped to around 646 million, up from close to 181 million in 2014, and is expected to surpass 1.1 billion by 2029. That is extraordinary growth by any measure. But internet use in Africa remains the lowest of any world region, at around 38% as of 2024, against a global average that translates to roughly 4.9 billion users worldwide. And the spread across the continent is enormous: Southern Africa leads regionally at around 73%, Northern Africa sits at 67.8%, while Middle Africa and Eastern Africa record rates of 32.1% and 26.7% respectively.
Morocco sits at the top of that range. With over 92% penetration as of February 2025, it ranks first among all African countries, ahead of Libya at 88.5% and Seychelles at 87%. Which makes what comes next even more interesting.
Morocco's internet penetration rate hit a record 109.2% in 2024, up from 103.4% the previous year, with 40.2 million subscribers. Yes, over 100%. That happens when people hold multiple SIM cards, which many do. By any measure, this is a connected country. Morocco ranks first in Africa for mobile internet speed in 2025, placing 39th worldwide with an average download speed of 124.32 Mbps.
First in Africa. That is the headline.
Now the signal
Here is what Tuesday looks like.
You are in a business meeting in Casablanca. You are screen-sharing a presentation. The connection drops. You switch to your phone hotspot. That drops too. Everyone laughs. You continue on a call where half the participants are frozen on your screen. This is not a bad day. This is a Tuesday.
The payment goes through on the third attempt, not because the customer changed their mind, but because the connection timed out twice before it processed. The video call works, so you front-load everything important in the first two minutes before someone freezes. You downloaded everything the night before because you stopped trusting live demos. You send a WhatsApp voice note instead of calling because WhatsApp holds the connection better on a bad signal day.
These are not dramatic failures. They are small frictions that accumulate, and if you arrive expecting the connectivity experience of a northern European office, the accumulation catches you off guard.
Does anyone have more unexpected situations to share?
Why the gap exists
The penetration number measures access. It does not measure quality, stability, or what happens when three people in the same office join a video call simultaneously. Morocco ranked 96th out of 152 countries in fixed broadband internet speed, with an average download speed of 61.43 Mbps, against a global average of 103 Mbps. Among ADSL users, 71.75% have speeds below 8 Mbps. Mobile internet dominates, making up 93.09% of total subscriptions, while fixed internet represents only 6.59%.
So the country is connected, largely through mobile, with mobile speeds that lead the continent. The fixed infrastructure tells a different story, and quality varies significantly depending on where you are, which provider you are with, and what time of day it is. Casablanca is not rural Atlas. A co-working space in Maarif is not a residential building in a newer quartier where infrastructure is still catching up. The average hides all of that.
What we suggest you do with it
What is interesting is how quickly you adapt. The offline-first instinct develops naturally. You build redundancy into your routine without thinking about it. You have a backup. You have a backup for the backup. You stop being surprised and start being prepared.
For anyone building products or services here, the lived signal matters more than the penetration number. Products that assume a stable, always-on connection are building on an assumption the market does not always support. Products designed around the actual signal, that work in low-bandwidth conditions, that handle dropped connections without punishing the user, are not just more resilient. They are more honest about where the market actually is right now.
Where it is going
Morocco has scheduled a rollout of 5G technology for late 2025, aiming to provide 5G access to 25% of its population by the end of 2025, with a goal to expand to 70% by 2030. The trajectory is clear and the ambition is serious. The gap between the number and the signal will close. But right now, in the middle of that transition, the most useful thing anyone can do is be honest about where it stands, not to discourage, but to build accordingly.
The market is here. The audience is connected. Just make sure your product works when the connection is not.
The map I'm drawing has gaps. What does connectivity look like where you are working? Same frustration, different country, or a completely different experience? Help me fill it in. Drop a comment or send me an email.
Sources: DataReportal Digital 2025 Morocco, ANRT 2024, Ookla Speedtest Global Index Q2 2025, Morocco World News, Ecofin Agency, Statista.
