Côte d’Ivoire’s Internet Revolution: Fiber Optics, 5G Dreams, and Satellite Solutions
As of 2024, about 53.4% of Ivorians live in urban areas, while urban internet usage is roughly 50% compared with 22% in rural areas. Côte d’Ivoire has laid over 5,200 km of fiber under the RNHD backbone, targeting nearly 7,000 km by September 2025. The country is connected to the ACE and WACS submarine cables, and the 2Africa mega-cable is expected to land in 2023–2024, adding about 180 Tbps design capacity. By 2023, about 92% of Ivorians had access to at least one 4G network. MTN Côte d’Ivoire began 5G trials in 2021 and launched first 5G sites in late