Nigeria’s median fixed broadband download speed has increased by 155 per cent over the past three years, making the country the most consistent performer among four leading West African markets analysed by global internet intelligence firm Ookla.
The improvement has coincided with a significant expansion in fibre connectivity, with Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) subscriptions tripling between the end of 2024 and June 2026.
The findings are contained in Ookla’s The Uneven Path to High-Speed Connectivity in West Africa report, which examines the impact of fibre deployment, regulation and infrastructure investment on broadband performance across the region.
The report assessed broadband developments in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, with Nigeria recording the strongest and most consistent improvement.
According to Ookla, Nigeria’s median fixed broadband download speed, excluding satellite connections, rose from 13.50 Mbps in 2023 to 34.47 Mbps in the first half of 2026.
“Nigeria’s median fixed broadband download speed (excluding satellite) increased 2.55x from 13.50 Mbps in 2023 to 34.47 Mbps in H1 2026, while its median upload speed rose by nearly the same proportion,” the report said.
The increase represents a 155 per cent rise in median download speed over the period.
Ookla said the growth has been sustained across successive quarters, rather than being driven by a single period of rapid improvement.
“Data from the last two years show that the median download speed consistently rose in every quarter, reflecting a progressive fiber build-out and steady adoption,” it said.
The improvement coincided with a threefold increase in FTTP subscribers between the end of 2024 and June 2026.
Nigeria also recorded improvements across different levels of broadband performance. The country’s P10 download speed, representing users at the lower end of the performance distribution, increased from 2.24 Mbps to 6.04 Mbps.
At the upper end, the P90 download speed increased from 74.37 Mbps to 90.04 Mbps during the same period.
Median upload speed also rose from about 11 Mbps in 2023 to 25.17 Mbps in the first half of 2026, representing an increase of nearly two-and-a-half times.
Meanwhile, median latency improved from 47.9 milliseconds in 2023 to 35.8 milliseconds in the first half of 2026, indicating faster network responsiveness.
