If you have been following our previous articles on 5G in Ghana, you would have noticed that the 5G cellular network has been tipped to roll out in Ghana in September 2024.
So far Ghana is still using the previous 4G cellular network at the moment. 5G is yet to be introduced into the country.
And although 5G is set to roll out in Ghana in September, how does that compare with the rest of the African continent? Is Ghana slacking far behind or are we just in time?
In this article, we will do our best to examine how Ghana compares to other African nations in terms of 5G rollout on the continent.
What Is The 5G Cellular Network?
5G is the fifth generation cellular network standard and it comes directly after 4G. 5G is part of a line of cellular networks that have been introduced over the years, from 2G, and 3G, to the current 4G being used in Ghana at the moment.
Which African Countries Are Already Using 5G?
Ethiopia announced that it was holding trials for the rollout of 5G in its domain. This announcement added the country to other African nations that had already rolled out 5G in their nations.
Governments in the African continent have been very optimistic about the rollout of the 5G cellular network on a larger scale and help in various sectors such as farming and healthcare.
They are also optimistic about using 5G as a gateway to plug into the metaverse while improving cyber security.
African Countries Already Having 5G
Below are the African nations that have added the 5G network in their territories.
South Africa is the African nation with the highest 5G adoption at the moment. South Africa was the first nation on the continent to launch the 5G network.
Zimbabwe is another African nation that has been able to launch 5G in its territory. This was followed by Egypt whose government granted spectrum to Orange to begin testing 5G in the country.
Other networks in the country such as Vodafone Egypt and Telecom have all tested 5G in the country.
Botswana unveiled 5G through its Mascom to residents of the capital city of Gaborone. This rollout of the 5G network started with just four areas in the city.
The country also has a plan to further lay more base stations in the coming years.
Nigeria first rolled out the 5G network through MTN Nigeria in September 2022. This was followed by Airtel the following year in June. Several other African nations that have launched 5G include Mauritius, Madagascar, Togo, and Seychelles. Tanzania has also been able to roll out the 5G network in its territory. Kenya is another nation that rolled out 5G and the nation is tipped to account for more than 5% of the 5G rollout in Africa.
Which African countries are planning to add 5G
More than 12 African nations are either carrying out trials or preparing to roll out the 5G network.
Ghana is one such country and it is not yet known whether the 5G network will roll out in September 2024 or not.
Some of the African countries that tried to roll out 5G met with one issue or another and some of these halted their plans altogether.
Lesotho gave a temporary spectrum to test 5G but the testing did not bring any meaningful conclusions after a while.
Gabon also began testing 5G and the country is expected to go commercial with the cellular network soon.
Another nation that is planning to roll out 5g is Senegal. The African nation allowed Sonatel and Orange to carry out trials in the city of Dakar although the network remained unoperational.
Uganda was one of the first African nations to carry out a test for the possibility of deploying 5G in its territory and the country is looking forward to a launch.
How is the speed of implementation around Africa?
Although many nations in Africa are optimistic about deploying 5G, most of these nations are facing delays due to infrastructure and energy issues.
One of the issues that have been cited to delay the rollout of 5G in Ghana has been energy issues.
South Africa, which is the African nation with the highest adoption of 5G accounts for 4.4% of the total subs. This is followed by Mauritius which accounts for 3.8%.
It may seem at the moment that Africa is not yet ready for the full rollout of the 5G network on the continent.
Variables such as urbanization, lack of funds, and the population all point to a lack of readiness for the rollout of 5G on the African continent.
The number of nations that have been able to roll out 5G is indicative of this. The expenditure that will be carried on infrastructure such as the backhaul technology and base stations is another barrier to the implementation of 5G in Africa.
Another cause of delay for the total rollout of the 5G network may be the expense of the 5g 5-enabled devices.
Phones that come with 5G capability are not cheap, with the best-performing ones costing as much as $1,200, meaning that only the rich can afford them.
This has discouraged some mobile operators from offering 5G in some African countries.
Africa trying to keep up with technological changes that are happening around the world is quite understandable.
However, one thing that needs to be observed is that, even 4G which is the predecessor to the coming 5G has not been fully rolled out in all regions on the continent. Some regions are still using 3G mobile networks.
Africa may first need to focus on maturing and implanting the current 4G network in all regions before looking to roll out 5G fully.
How will it impact Africans as compared to 4G in Africa?
Although Africa may not be fully ready for the implementation of 5G on the continent, the impact it will have once that has been achieved is quite tremendous.
Being able to fully implement 5G in African nations will have a lot of benefits that are bigger than what was derived from the use of 4G.
With the implementation of 5G, sectors such as healthcare, business, agriculture, and education will see great improvement.
Doctors and nurses will be able to monitor patients remotely and even perform remote surgeries.
Businesses will be able to recruit and train employees with ease. They will also be able to work remotely and hold video meetings without any interruptions.
Farmers will be able to use 5 G-powered drones to boost crop yields and teachers and students will be able to use the network to indulge in immersive and online learning.
Conclusion
The 5G network rollout has seen some delays on the African continent. Most nations that have rolled out the mobile network standard are not yet operational in all regions due to a lack of infrastructure and funds.
The speed of 5G rollout on the continent is low at best. However, its benefits to the growth of the African economy cannot be overlooked.
With time and the further maturity of 4G, the rollout of 5G on the African continent will gradually gain ground.
We now look to the impending rollout of 5G in Ghana and see how it goes.
