Cable.co.uk’s Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing table, reviewed between May and June 2026, lists the average price of one gigabyte of mobile data for 237 countries, including all sovereign African states.

Malawi leads the continent with $0.38 per gigabyte, followed by Nigeria at $0.39 and Ghana at $0.40, while Kenya records $0.59 per gigabyte, ranking seventh and 57th globally.

Kenya’s price is about 30 % lower than Tanzania’s $0.84 per gigabyte, making it the cheapest large market in East Africa.

The ranking follows Cable’s methodology, which averages the price per gigabyte across every mobile data plan on sale in a country, rather than a single standard plan.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) provides a contrasting measure that prices a standard 5 GB data basket; for Kenya this yields $1.55 per gigabyte, highlighting a sharp discrepancy between the two approaches.

All disagreements between Cable and ITU figures are disclosed in each country’s entry, and the article notes that price per gigabyte does not reflect speed, coverage, reliability or affordability relative to income.

The top ten African countries together cost $5.28 per gigabyte, averaging $0.53, which is nearly five times lower than the global average of $2.59 per gigabyte.

South Africa, at $1.81 per gigabyte, ranks 149th worldwide and is excluded from the top ten, underscoring the price gap between the continent’s cheapest and most expensive markets.

Zimbabwe tops the global list as the most expensive, with $43.75 per gigabyte, more than eight times the combined cost of the African top ten.