{"id":4262,"date":"2023-11-24T09:53:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T09:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2025-12-12T15:29:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T15:29:32","slug":"mike-nxele-of-world-mobile-and-richard-cockle-from-gsma-foundry-tackle-sub-saharan-africas-digital-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/connecting-the-unconnected-with-aerostats\/mike-nxele-of-world-mobile-and-richard-cockle-from-gsma-foundry-tackle-sub-saharan-africas-digital-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Nxele of World Mobile and Richard Cockle from GSMA Foundry Tackle Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s Digital Divide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors discuss progress, challenges, and innovative solutions for digital connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, urging collaboration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to mobile connectivity, Sub Saharan Africa has seen progress over the past year. A quarter of the population are now using mobile internet, with almost 30 million new mobile internet users coming online in 2022. And, more than half of the world\u2019s 4G network expansion took place in Sub-Saharan Africa last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This progress is testament to the continuing investment mobile operators and governments are making in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while a the coverage gap \u2013 those living in areas without mobile broadband coverage \u2013 is now only an issue for 5% of the world\u2019s population, the fact remains that almost 400 million people worldwide still don\u2019t have mobile internet coverage. This is an even bigger issue in Sub Saharan Africa, where nearly half of the world\u2019s unconnected people (180 million) live and work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article from Tech Africa News here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authors discuss progress, challenges, and innovative solutions for digital connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, urging collaboration. When it comes to mobile connectivity, Sub Saharan Africa has seen progress over the past year. A quarter of the population are now using mobile internet, with almost 30 million new mobile internet users coming online in 2022. And, more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,122],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[206],"class_list":["post-4262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connecting-the-unconnected-with-aerostats","category-non-terrestrial-networks-theme","algolia_discover_type-article"],"yoast_head":"\nMike Nxele of World Mobile and Richard Cockle from GSMA Foundry Tackle Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s Digital Divide - GSMA Foundry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/connecting-the-unconnected-with-aerostats\/mike-nxele-of-world-mobile-and-richard-cockle-from-gsma-foundry-tackle-sub-saharan-africas-digital-divide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mike Nxele of World Mobile and Richard Cockle from GSMA Foundry Tackle Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s Digital Divide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Authors discuss progress, challenges, and innovative solutions for digital connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, urging collaboration. When it comes to mobile connectivity, Sub Saharan Africa has seen progress over the past year. A quarter of the population are now using mobile internet, with almost 30 million new mobile internet users coming online in 2022. And, more […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/connecting-the-unconnected-with-aerostats\/mike-nxele-of-world-mobile-and-richard-cockle-from-gsma-foundry-tackle-sub-saharan-africas-digital-divide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GSMA Foundry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-24T09:53:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-12T15:29:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GSMA-PR-7-e1726653090907.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicola\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gsma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gsma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nicola\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mike Nxele of World Mobile and Richard Cockle from GSMA Foundry Tackle Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s Digital Divide - GSMA Foundry","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/get-involved\/gsma-foundry\/connecting-the-unconnected-with-aerostats\/mike-nxele-of-world-mobile-and-richard-cockle-from-gsma-foundry-tackle-sub-saharan-africas-digital-divide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mike Nxele of World Mobile and Richard Cockle from GSMA Foundry Tackle Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s Digital Divide","og_description":"Authors discuss progress, challenges, and innovative solutions for digital connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, urging collaboration. 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