A new report from Research ICT Africa shows that only 53% of South Africans use the Internet.
This is compared to 73% in Columbia and 86% in Argentina.
The report, with the title “Lagging ICT adoption in SA”, added that South Africa is still ahead of other African countries, though.
South Africa’s mobile phone penetration rate was much higher, added the report, coming in at 85%.
The graph below shows the Internet usage rate, mobile phone penetration rate, and gross national income (GNI) of the countries compared against South Africa.
“Although South Africa’s mobile phone and Internet penetration are high compared to other African and Asian developing countries, it does not perform as well when compared with countries in Latin America with similar incomes,” stated the report.
With only half the population online, the “potential of the Internet to drive social and economic inclusion in a developing economy is not met”.
Too expensive
Expanding on the above, the report stated that South Africans interviewed about factors limiting their use of the Internet stated it was “too expensive”. Source