By GEZACHIGN DADE
Ethiopia becomes the second leading country in Africa interns of government-imposed internet shutdowns in 2024.
According to a new report by Top Ten VPN, an organization which publishes reports on internet censorship, Africa lost $1.5 billion to Internet shutdowns in 2024.
The above figure accounts 19% of the total $7.69 billion that was lost to Internet shutdowns worldwide.
In Africa, Sudan lost the most — $1.12 billion — to Internet shutdowns becoming the leading country in Africa and the third largest globally.
Ethiopia and Kenya follow with both neighbors losing $211 million and $75 million respectively.
Ethiopia is the eighth country in the world and the second in Africa in terms of internet shutdowns, according to the report.
The number of internet shutdowns globally reached a record high in 2024, with 167 internet shutdowns recorded in 28 countries.
According to the report, these government-imposed internet shutdowns have caused a huge loss of $7.69 billion, putting a huge strain on the global economy.
Globally, 648.4 million people are said to have been directly disconnected from various internet services due to these disruptions.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the 32,938 hours of internet shutdowns in the country caused a financial loss of $1.56 billion, affecting 111.2 million people.
The report says that internet shutdowns represent one form of internet censorship; they include the disruption of access to information, essential services, and digital infrastructure.
While the cost of internet shutdowns in 2024 decreased by 15.8 percent compared to the previous year, the “Top Ten VPN” report noted that intentional internet shutdowns continued to cause more hours of disruption than before.
These outages lasted 88,788 hours, a 12 percent increase compared to 2023.
Of these, 49,101 hours were complete internet outages; 39,687 hours were targeted at social media sites.
One-third of government internet outages in 2024 were linked to additional human rights violations, restricting freedom of expression and access to information.
Sudan is the leading country in Africa and the third largest in the world in terms of internet outages.
Sudan suffered a loss of $1.12 billion from 12,707 hours of internet outages, affecting 23.4 million people.
Ethiopia, which ranks second and seventh globally, suffered a loss of $211.2 million.
Kenya, Algeria, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal, Mozambique, Chad and Mauritius are ranked 3-10 in Africa.