In this article we explore the key features of the Sub-Saharan fixed broadband market and where the opportunities lie.

Connectivity is high on the agenda of modern governments, the World Bank, and Development Finance Institutions, given the role that digitalisation plays in a country's development, both internally, by facilitating education, trade, the economic and social integration of regional communities, and the delivery of public policy through e-government; and externally, by facilitating international trade and increasing a country's influence in the global economy.

Yet thatcritical development lever lags behind in most Sub-Saharan countries. Fixedbroadband penetration remains well below the global average, even in SouthAfrica, where the gap is partly masked by high mobile broadband uptake. Thevast majority of connectivity today is delivered via mobile phones on 3G/4Gnetworks, which are constrained in capacity and increasingly insufficient tosupport sustained growth in high-capacity, low-latency digital applications atscale.

Has there been a fixed-to-mobile broadband substitution in Sub-Saharan Africa?

In the same way that mobile telephony substituted fixed telephony in many developing countries, notably in Central and Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 21st century, are we seeing a substitution of fixed broadband by mobile and satellite broadband in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Unlike more developed markets, Sub-Saharan countries largely skipped legacy copper infrastructure, leapfrogging directly to mobile broadband. But that same 3G/4Ginfrastructure cannot support the next wave of digital growth. In that regard the comparison with voice communications falls short, because data consumption is exponential and speed and capacity are critical dimensions that mobile networks cannot currently match at scale.

5G networks remain very limited across the region and will require substantial investment to cover urban areas and beyond.

Satellite broadband provided by LEO constellations is also bound to play a growing role, but at current pricing levels, satellite broadband adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa remains concentrated in enterprise, institutional, backhaul, and higher-income consumer segments.

Fixed broadband alone cannot explain Sub-Saharan Africa’s connectivity gap

According to GSMA estimates, the mobile broadband gap in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024 stood at10% on average, while the real problem is the usage gap impacting 65% of the population, which is driven primarily by affordability, device access, and digital literacy, although fixed broadband availability remains an important long-term constraint.

In addition, the digital divide between urban and rural areas cannot be bridged by fibre networks alone. Building such networks in remote areas would not be economical for the private sector, especially to reach small communities scattered across vast land, and it would not be sustainable for governments to heavily subsidise such initiatives. In these cases, innovative wireless solutions such as those proposed by Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) operators are critical.

Why fibre?

Rolling out fibre alone is not the solution, but it will play a critical role in addressing the Sub-Saharan connectivity gap and unlocking improvements in education, digital literacy, economic development, and in turn increase affordability. According to a 2009 World Bank study, a 10% rise in fixed broadband penetration has been associated with a 1.38% increase in GDP in a developing economy.

The following technicaladvantages of fibre make the technology future proof:

• Speed: symmetrical upload/download gigabit-capable connections farexceeding 4G averages.‍
• Latency: consistently low latency, critical for cloud services, video conferencing, and real-time applications.‍
• Capacity: very high long-term scalability per connection.‍
• Consistency: stable performance regardless of network congestion or distance froma cell tower.
• ‍Durability: a trenched network typically has an asset life of over 30 years and is less sensitive to distance and weather conditions than wireless alternatives. Once deployed, the incremental cost of adding users is minimal.

The opportunity is further evidenced by accelerating data centre investment, cloud adoption, AI workloads, fintech expansion, and the growing demand for local data processing.

Who does what?

The fibre ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa spans several distinct player types, each addressing different layers of the connectivity stack.

Nationwide backbones

The first layer is to build communication backbones spreading cross-border connectivity within nations, providing open-access infrastructure for the different stakeholders to participate in the digital economy. Governments and DFIs play a critical role in funding and developing such infrastructure. A notable example was the EBRD’s first telecommunications project in Sub-Saharan Africa, the signing in February2026 of a USD100m sovereign loan financing to participate in Nigeria’s Project Bridge, a nationwide rollout of approximately 90,000 km of fibre-optic broadband infrastructure financed as a PPP involving the World Bank and ADB. Kenya’s National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) and Digital Super highway projects are also cases in point.

Wholesale fibreCos / infraCos / netCos

Fibre connectivity is critical to fuel digital infrastructure such as telecom towers and data-hungry data centres, which need high capacity and redundancy to support the ever-growing demand for cloud computing and AI capabilities. Private wholesale operators, such as Wiocc, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, C-Squared, BCS, play a critical role in the ecosystem by deploying substantial terrestrial networks, typically selling access to mobile operators, cloud platforms, content providers, and enterprise customers. They include spinoffs suc has Bayobab and standalone new entrants, as well as resellers who are gradually building their own networks as they scale.

Last-mile challengers

Next to the large wholesalers are much more nimble challengers, often beginning with Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) before deploying fibre, targeting both dense urban areas and underpenetrated suburban markets for residential and B2B customers. These players can move faster and are well-positioned as consolidators. They sit between a corporate and infrastructure play, making it critical to understand unit economics (homes passed, take-rate, customer acquisition cost, payback period), as well as their unique selling proposition, addressable market, and competitive landscape.

They complement MNOs that are also looking to diversify their income streams and increase subscriber retention by bundling fixed broadband with other services.

What are the key parameters that operators and investors should consider?

Build economics

• ‍CapEx intensity: these are capital-heavy businesses. Tier 2 operators in particular are often in land-grab mode, requiring significant upfront investment ahead of revenue.

Sub-Saharan Africa last-mile operators frequently deploy Fixed Wireless Access as the lower cost first step to reach customers quickly. The Africa FWA market was worth USD5.07bnin 2025 and is expected to reach USD9.16bn by 2030. But for many operators, FWA serves as an intermediate deployment strategy before selective fibre densification. Once a subscriber base is secured, as traffic loads increase, operators convert to fibre to handle capacity, reduce latency, and improve service reliability.

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The dominant approach for last-mile fibre networks in Sub-Saharan African cities is to deploy aerial cables. Even though these are more prone to weather conditions than trenched networks, an aerial deployment costs 40 to 60% less than trenching and can be deployed much faster, allowing operators to grow subscriber bases very efficiently. The deployment choice, whether aerial or underground, comes down to right of way costs, local regulation and CapExbudgets.

• ‍Homes passed vs. take-rate: this is the fundamental tension in network planning for last-mile Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Overbuild risk is real; disciplined deployment planning is critical to achieving a timely ramp-up and targeted payback periods.‍
• OpEx: customer acquisition costs, ongoing maintenance, and network management costs have a meaningful impact on cash generation.

Revenue and commercial performance

• ‍ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) and affordability: pricing mustbe calibrated to local income levels to achieve the take-rates needed tojustify the build-out, particularly in suburban and peri-urban markets.‍
• Churn and Network Quality: reducing churn through strong network reliability and responsive customer support is a key driver of long-term financial performance.

Execution, regulatory and other risks

• Execution risk: delivering on time and on budget requires experienced project management, a reliable ecosystem of contractors, and disciplined build processes. This is critical to avoid cost overruns and delays in reaching target homes passed and subscriber numbers.
• Regulatory environment: access regulation, licensing and permitting timeline, right of way costs, can all have meaningful impact on returns and must be navigated carefully.
• Other risks: power reliability, FX volatility among other parameters are also critical and can materially affect deployment economics.

Financing structures and the investor universe

Fibre infrastructure lends itself to a range of financing approaches, including senior secured debt, infrastructure debt with availability-based payments, and equity structures suited to long-term assets. The capital available for this sector is deep and diversified:

• ‍Development Finance Institutions (DFIs): active in the space given their development mandate to improve digitalisation and ability to catalyse private capital. DFIs can finance operators through the whole value chain, from smaller ISPs to larger backbone infrastructure projects.‍
• Private Equity: growth-oriented PE funds targeting profitable operators at earlier stages of scale.‍
• Infrastructure Investors: larger backbone deployments and wholesale projects tend to offer utility-like income with anchor tenants which is typically attractive to yield-seeking infrastructure funds looking for long-duration, cash-generative assets.‍
• Strategics: the sector attracts a range of strategics. From regional and global telecoms acquiring ISPs to extend their product offering or geographic footprint, to infrastructure platforms such as tower companies seeking adjacent asset exposure, to cloud providers and hyper scalers pursuing later-stage acquisitions or co-investment positions.

The wide range of asset classes constituting the fibre broadband ecosystem and the extent of the investor universe make the investor selection and transaction structuring all the more important.

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Conclusion

The Sub-Saharan fibre broadband opportunity is structural, long-term, and only growing. The region’s digital economy cannot reach its potential on mobile broadband alone. Fibre, from international cables and national backbones to last-mile connectivity in dense urban markets, is the infrastructure on which the next wave of growth will be built.

But getting it right requires more than capital. It requires disciplined deployment planning, a clear understanding of unit economics, the right financing structure, and experienced advisors who can support operators across the full transaction lifecycle, from structuring and fundraising to M&A advisory and consolidation.

Index Partners has a vast experience of scaling fibre broadband operators, TowerCos, data centres and other digital infrastructure players in emerging markets, through fundraisings for organic and inorganic growth and M&A advisory. We connect projects with the right mix of private equity, development finance, and infrastructure capital.

If you are an operator building fibre infrastructure or an investor targeting digital infrastructure, speak to Index Partners.