Guinea: restriction of access to the Internet and social media caused the country to lose $47.4 million in 2023

January 15th 2024

Africa, Guinea, ICT News, Internet

Universal and affordable access to the Internet is one of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. However, for various reasons, certain countries deprive their populations of the Web for periods sometimes exceeding a month.

Citing a “security problem”, the Guinean government has restricted access to the Internet and social media such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Telegram and Instagram since November 24, 2023. A measure which caused revenue losses of around 47.4 million USD to the country and populations, according to the specialized British platform Top10VPN.

Added to the 3 days of restrictions in May against a backdrop of popular demonstrations, this makes 3,720 hours of Internet outage suffered by some 6.98 million Guinean mobile Internet users, according to a report by the Regulatory Authority Posts and Telecommunications (ARPT).

The Guinean Gathering of Companies in the ICT Sector (RESTIC) called at the beginning of the year for the restoration of the Internet in the country, even requesting the support of ECOWAS to make the government bend.

Several other African countries have resorted to internet restrictions, for various reasons. Also according to Top10VPN, Ethiopia and Senegal respectively lost $1.59 billion and $57.5 million in 2023.

We Are Tech Africa notes , however, that this phenomenon does not only occur in Africa. Countries like Brazil, Iran and Iraq have also used Internet restrictions.

Source: Agence Ecofin Back