Cameroon ranks last in a new global index measuring fiber optic development. It placed 93rd out of 93 countries in the 2024 Fiber Development Index, released by the World Broadband Association (WBBA) and UK-based telecom research firm Omdia.
The country scored just 4 out of 100 this year, a drop from 7 in 2023, and was the only member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) included in the ranking.
The index uses seven metrics to evaluate how far countries have gone in building and adopting fiber networks. These include fiber-to-home and fiber-to-business coverage, connections to mobile cell sites, median download speeds, and average latency.
Cameroon fell into Group 3 — a category for emerging markets that have broadband infrastructure in place but low household adoption. This group trails far behind Groups 1 and 2, which include countries with either mature fiber networks or strong broadband systems moving toward fiber upgrades.
The report suggested that countries in Group 3, including Cameroon, can move forward by first investing in alternative technologies such as fixed wireless. From there, they can gradually expand fiber coverage. Another option is a hybrid model where fiber deployment goes hand-in-hand with broader broadband improvements.
In Africa, the top five in fiber development for 2024 included Mauritius, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Ghana. Côte d’Ivoire made a big leap, jumping from outside the top ten in 2023 into the top three this year.
At the lower end of the ranking, Cameroon sits alongside Botswana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tunisia.
Infrastructure in place, but underused
This poor ranking comes despite the scale of fiber infrastructure Cameroon has already rolled out. By the end of 2023, the country had deployed 15,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable, with plans to add another 3,500 kilometers in 2024, according to government figures. Cameroon is also linked to five undersea fiber cables — SAT3, WACS, ACE, SAIL, and NCSCS — though the ACE landing station is still pending construction.
Yet much of this infrastructure remains underused. A 2022 report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) showed that just 15% of SAT3’s capacity and 30% of WACS’s capacity had been tapped since their launch 17 years ago.
The report also highlighted a large “fiber gap” — areas where fiber is either unavailable or not yet activated. In 2020, roughly 14 million people in Cameroon — more than half the country’s population — still lacked fiber access.
Some progress, despite the setbacks
Despite these challenges, fiber connectivity has played a role in expanding digital access. Between 2018 and 2022, Cameroon’s mobile broadband penetration rate more than doubled, rising from 18% to 39%, according to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.