During Q1 2021, Egypt had the fastest median download speed over fixed broadband in North Africa at 26.58Mbps (4.82 Mbps upload). While Egypt trails in mobile internet speeds, it excels for fixed broadband speeds. Egypt showed the fastest broadband speeds From Q2 2020 to Q1 2021, every North African country (except Egypt) saw large increases in median mobile download speeds, with Libya showing the largest percentage increase (67.4%) followed by Algeria (65.1%), Morocco (10.7%), Tunisia (10.0%) and Egypt (0.1%). Many North Africans have become mobile-first internet users as 3G and 4G performance and coverage continue to improve. Tunisia was second (21.28 Mbps), Egypt third (14.95 Mbps), Libya fourth (11.65 Mbps) and Algeria fifth (9.76 Mbps).
Morocco had the fastest median mobile download speed (25.53 Mbps). Mobile speeds increased across most of North Africa This study showed that overall internet speeds slowed during lockdowns. North Africa isn’t isolated in this improvement: earlier this year, Ookla® partnered with the World Bank to analyze internet performance in 18 African countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Internet speeds over the past year - Q2 2020 to Q1 2021 - increased for both mobile and fixed broadband in every country in North Africa. Morocco has the fastest mobile download speeds in North Africa, Egypt is fastest for fixed broadbandĪnalysis based on data from Speedtest Intelligence shows internet speeds varied widely across North Africa during Q1 2021, with every country except Egypt experiencing faster median mobile download speeds than fixed broadband speeds. Finally, we investigate internet performance and coverage in the largest metropolitan areas, and look at cell signal strength using data from Ookla Cell Analytics ™. We further examine which mobile and fixed broadband providers in those countries had the best speeds, consistency and 4G Availability during Q1 2021. This article explores the state of internet performance in the North African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia from Q2 2020 through Q1 2021. On the bright side, Speedtest Intelligence® reveals that every North African nation improved their mobile and fixed broadband speeds from Q2 2020 to Q1 2021, despite huge setbacks in the global economy. 2020 was a difficult year for almost every nation in the world due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.