Key takeaways from the study

• Globally, there were 76 new internet restrictions in 2023. 17 of them happened in Africa.
• Senegal imposed the highest number of restrictions in Africa — 5. The restrictions happened following the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
• Zimbabwe, Gabon and Chad imposed restrictions amid elections.

Surfshark’s internet shutdown yearly recap reveals that Africa was the second most intensive continent in internet restrictions (behind Asia) in 2023. Most internet freedom violations in Africa happened in 4 countries: Senegal (5 cases), Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mauritania (2 cases each).

“Internet shutdowns are commonly used by autocratic regimes to hinder communications, thwart protest organization, and cut people off from loved ones in times of political unrest. During elections, internet restrictions limit the spread of information about candidates, eroding the democratic integrity of elections. Furthermore, amid violent government crackdowns, internet blackouts can effectively prevent the dissemination of critical information regarding human rights abuses to the international community. The increasingly frequent use of internet shutdowns threatens the global foundation of free speech and human rights, dangerously tipping the scale towards oppression and away from democratic accountability.”, says Lina Survila, Surfshark spokeswoman.

Senegal imposed the highest number of restrictions in Africa — 5 

The Senegalese government imposed internet restrictions following the sentencing of  opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. Measures included limiting access to social media platforms and an internet curfew during the summer.

In Ethiopia, access to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, and TikTok was restricted in response to protests against the government’s attempt to split the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Guinea and Mauritania also imposed restrictions amid protests and political tensions.

Zimbabwe, Gabon and Chad imposed restrictions amid elections. Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania imposed restrictions amid political tensions as well.

In 2024, elections are scheduled for Mali, Malawi, Chad, and Mauritania. All these countries have a history of internet restrictions during elections, making them vulnerable to further disruptions.

The Internet Censorship Tracker was developed by Surfshark in partnership with internet watchdog NetBlocks.

The research tracks partial and complete internet and social media shutdowns in 196 countries and territories from 2015 onwards.

[Featured Image Credit]

N-Soft has delivered a new governance solution for mobile internet in Mali enabling the country to enhance transparency and oversight of its domestic policies.

The testing of the new data solution was officially approved recently by the experts of AMRTP, the regulatory authority for telecoms, TICS, and, mails from the Malian state and N-Soft.

With the implementation of these advanced digital governance solutions, Mali emerges as one of the pioneering nations in Africa to enhance transparency and oversight of its domestic policies.

This development offers a significant advantage for global financial institutions and investors who seek clear visibility into specific sectors of the economy to make informed investment decisions and provide loans within a trustworthy business environment.

N-Soft has been managing mobile voice, SMS, and mobile money in Mali since 2019. For example, they are overseeing USD 3 billion in mobile money transactions per month. 

As a vote of confidence, N-Soft was granted an extension of the initial contract and now provides real-time visibility on Mobile Data service with regards to volume (download/upload), and the bandwidth per application (OTT, Web, Streaming, etc.)

This service extension also aims at overseeing mobile internet and calculating, in real-time, volume usage, the bandwidth generated by Androids’ mobile apps, apple, etc. to bring visibility over the effective bandwidth. 

“N-SOFT is highly honored by the trust bestowed upon it by the AMRTP, reaffirmed by the signing of this project. This project aims to provide Mali with a precise regulatory tool, giving it complete visibility into the internet volumes consumed by its nationals.

It is not about controlling how Malians use the internet, but rather measuring the overall bandwidth used by the country, classifying OTT applications (e.g., WhatsApp, YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, etc.) based on their adoption by the population, and addressing a multitude of similar questions.

Mali is now among our privileged partners, and we will continue to mobilize all our resources to provide it with complete visibility into its digital environment.” Explains Alex-Ariel Tchetgnia, VP of services at N-Soft.

Since N-Soft has been a Digital Sector Supervisor for more than ten years, its governance solutions stand out in the GovTech sector as tried-and-true and reliable. They can assist any government in tackling the informal economy and tax avoidance by providing full visibility into the mobile data industry.

N-Soft solutions can also be used in other sectors besides mobile telephony. In addition, they supervise pay TV, the gambling and betting industry, mobile phone importation, digital advertising, financial services, and any other sectors part of the digital economy. 

The transparency brought by N-Soft tools can be used for the volume of transactions, as in Mali’s case, or for revenue mobilization to allow governments to pinpoint revenue leakages to maximize revenue mobilization. Such thorough tracking ensures that governments can collect all taxes owed to them.