![]() ![]() Sub-Saharan Africa had the longest period of internet shutdown (15,963 hours – 665 days) worldwide, followed by Asia (13,458 hours – 561 days) and the Middle East and North Africa (512 hours – 21 days). The report indicated that 73% (8 out of 11) of all internet disruptions in Africa were associated with restrictions on peaceful protests, 45% (5 out of 11) with election interference, and 18% (2 out of 11) with infringements on freedom of the press. Nigeria was closely followed by the hotbed of conflict in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, where the internet was shut down for 8,864 hours (369 days – about a year) affecting 21.3 million internet users at an economic cost of US$164.5 million. In Nigeria about 104 million internet users were affected for a total of 210 days. The cost of shutdowns in Nigeria is estimated at US$1.5 billion (out of a total of US$1.93 billion (78%) for the African continent) and US$5.5 million globally (27%). Globally, the report flags Nigeria as the biggest culprit after Myanmar. ![]() Educational institutions are particularly hard hit by such shutdowns and this impact has been more profound as academic activities moved online during COVID-19. Top10VPN estimates that 171 million internet users across Africa were affected by such shutdowns during 2021, leading to a total African economic loss of US$1.93 billion. ![]() The list was compiled by the virtual private network (VPN) review site Top10VPN as part of a report on the global cost of internet shutdowns, most of which were in an attempt to restrict peaceful protests. Nigeria was one of the worst culprits globally and on the list of African countries that also include Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Republic of Congo, Zambia, Chad, Senegal and South Sudan. Tweet Eleven African countries have been included in a list of 21 countries whose governments deliberately shut down internet access for their citizens in the course of 2021 – in most cases, to quell civil unrest, but a move that undermined higher education institutions, students and staff as they battled to continue working online during COVID-19. ![]()
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