ADCD 2025: Looking Back at Africa’s Problems and Potential

Africa’s digital market is in the beginning of its expansion, and it already displays signs of growing potential. Internet adoption is rising, just like the population. Domains, hosting, payments, and data infrastructure show extraordinary room for development. Although the continent faces structural limitations, it holds more opportunities than more mature regions.

Africa’s digital landscape today resembles early-stage markets that later became global powerhouses, and it has all the chances to become one as well.

This article is based on the presentation given by Filip Borcov during ADCD 2025. Watch the full video on the Site.pro official YouTube channel.

The Internet in Africa

More than 500 million people are now online across the African continent. That’s a number comparable in size to both the United States and European markets. Over the past 15 years, the number of users has quadrupled, and projections indicate that this figure could double again in the next decade. Such acceleration is unseen in regions where the market has already been established.

Africa’s expanding population amplifies this potential. The population is expected to double over the next 25 to 30 years, giving the continent an even larger share of the global demographic landscape. As the population increases, so does the volume of Internet users.

Domain Density

We can take a closer look at the African digital potential by analysing its domain density: the number of domain names per thousand people. For example, in the Netherlands, 400 out of 1,000 people own domains; in Germany, around 300. In Zambia, perhaps only two, and in some countries, fewer than one. Compared to the Netherlands, the difference can be as large as 400 times.

This does not imply that Zambia must follow the route of the Netherlands directly, especially given the context that access to credit cards and similar tools is limited. However, it still makes it clear how much opportunity for growth there is.

If African markets don’t develop their digital areas, big corporations from the United States and Europe will be able to conquer the market instead. Building communities and bringing people together can help keep these opportunities within local ecosystems. That’s the idea behind ADCD.

What is Holding Africa Back

A big challenge for African markets is outdated registry systems. Some registries still operate entirely on paper. In Namibia, for instance, registering a domain requires filling out physical forms, visiting the registry in person, and paying for two years before a domain is issued. In Zambia, major hosting companies lack APIs, forcing them to interact directly with the registry. Many registries admit their systems need change and often express willingness to improve when confronted with the inefficiencies.

In Ethiopia, buying a local domain online is impossible because the registry offers no API. Sellers may wish to offer online purchases, but the registry rules prevent them from doing so.

Another barrier is the prevalence of privately owned registries in several African countries. Unlike Germany, where most registries are government-managed, many African registries charge extremely high prices. In Namibia, a ccTLD costs $675 per year. For most individuals and businesses, such costs are simply not affordable. Even small reductions can make a meaningful difference.

Emerging Solutions

There are positive examples that show what African countries can achieve. Rwanda, though small, provides a model of efficiency and accessibility. The country offers free domains to every business for the first year. This approach supports economic growth and should be considered by other nations. South Africa similarly demonstrates strong registry performance with reasonable prices and functional APIs.

When local registries are difficult to use, people naturally turn to alternatives. In many regions, users default to .com or other international domains.

Hosting in Africa

In many African countries, including Zambia and Malawi, local hosting remains slow and expensive. As a result, most customers purchase hosting from the Netherlands, the United States, or Germany. Among hosting companies, around 70-80% host their infrastructure outside Africa. Where local data centres do exist, they are insufficient, and much of the continent still relies on facilities in South Africa.

This means users pay more for slower services. Website development also moves slowly, pushing many towards website builders that allow immediate creation rather than waiting months for custom development.

Payment Gateways

Africa leads the world in mobile transactions, and people with even basic phones can conduct digital payments easily. Still, integrating these systems into hosting or online services is complicated. Providers have to handle mobile payments manually and devel individual methods for collecting funds.

Without streamlined payment solutions, businesses are limited. It is common in places like Angola to find organisations with Gmail, Instagram, and Facebook accounts, yet no website at all. Without a website, there is no domain, no control system, no data centre usage, and no local traffic — patterns typical in developing parts of the continent.

The Problem with Data Centres

The number of African data centres is increasing, mostly built by telecommunications companies. Still, both local and global companies hesitate to host inside the continent because of weak signals, high latency, and a lack of economies of scale. Even hosting in South Africa often does not resolve the problem.

Africa lacks centralised hubs comparable to Amsterdam in Europe. Global players — Google, Amazon, and Microsoft — remain limited in their presence. If such providers were to expand more fully, they could attract smaller companies and stimulate broader infrastructure growth. For now, hosting in Africa remains expensive, slow, and inefficient.

What Needs Improvement

Digital marketing knowledge across the continent remains low. Hosting companies often cannot answer basic questions about customer acquisition costs or lifetime value. Awareness of growth hacking techniques and product-focused thinking is similarly sparse. That’s why more conferences and educational initiatives are needed to close this knowledge gap.

Equally important is the creation of strong communities. Registries, data centres, learning systems, and payment providers must collaborate more closely. The friendliness and helpfulness of African communities demonstrates the human foundation needed to build such networks.

Conclusion

Africa’s digital market presents immense opportunity. By focusing on registries, payments, data centres, and education, and by building strong communities, the continent can shape its own digital future. Site.pro is proud to take part in Africa's growth as a sponsor of Africa Datacenters & Cloud Days, one of the events that brings IT professionals interested in Africa's infrastructre development together.