How pricing, fibre and 5G collided in African telecoms in 2025

In 2025, Africa’s telecom industry entered a defining chapter. Towers and cell sites now blanket the continent, yet hundreds of millions of people still can’t afford to get online. Mobile operators raised prices even as they slashed tariffs to survive bruising price wars. Fibre raced across coastlines and deep into cities, and 5G towers lit up skylines—yet for many consumers, the devices…