Cedarview CEO, Owoeye blames infrastructure deficit for high data prices in Nigeria

By Agwunobi Joy

A recent report by leading cybersecurity firm Surfshark ranked Nigeria 109th out of 110 countries in terms of internet affordability, with an Internet Value Index (IVi) of 0.0017. This is 44 times lower than the global average, indicating that internet users in Nigeria pay significantly more for internet access than users in many other countries. The report attributes this disparity to a range of factors, including high taxes on internet access, the cost of purchasing data plans, and the limited availability of affordable devices.

In terms of regional performance, Nigeria was ranked 16th in Africa and 12th in sub-Saharan Africa. This places Nigeria below countries like South Africa (70th place) and Ghana (105th place), who also overpay for internet access but have better overall rankings than Nigeria. It also indicates that the cost of internet access in Nigeria is comparatively high even among its regional peers.

Commenting on the relatively high rate of internet affordability in the most populous African country, Wale Owoeye, the CEO of Cedarview Communications, a Lagos-based ICT company, attributed the high cost of internet affordability to a lack of infrastructure in the country.

Owoeye pointed out that there is a deficit in infrastructure, especially transportation that would move capacity in and across the major cities of the country to make sure there is lots of connectivity which is an area the government needs to work on.

He however noted that internet access is not too expensive in the country as the price being paid for data has been dropping significantly.

In an interview conducted with Business a.m, Owoeye said, “Given the propendious amount of capacity of connectivity at the shores of Lagos, internet is very cheap in Lagos and it is one of the cheapest in the West Coast of Africa. But if you look at the density of that compared to a place like London, a lot more cables are landing in London than in Lagos”

The Cedarview CEO noted that Nigeria has been investing in broadband infrastructure, especially in urban areas, as well as transitioning from 3G and 4G systems to 5G to ensure that connectivity and internet connection becomes cheaper.

“I know few people are already looking at that area to solve and we believe that the prices will only go down. Prices are dropping and each year it keeps getting lower and we also try to create new business models in which we have better and faster internet access especially within the youthful segment,” he added.