Lebanon’s digital profile features relatively high internet and smartphone penetration for its income level. Most people are online, social-media use is very intense, and several international submarine cables (such as IMEWE and CADMOS) give the country solid international bandwidth, even though domestic infrastructure and electricity remain fragile.
In digital skills and research, Lebanon performs well in the Arab region. Universities like AUB, LAU and USJ produce substantial AI- and data-related studies and a steady stream of tech-literate graduates who feed both the local market and the diaspora.
Lesotho’s digital backbone is modest but well-structured for a landlocked state. The country has operated a national internet exchange in Maseru since 2011 (LIXP), created with the Internet Society and the regulator, which helps keep local traffic local and lowers latency to nearby cloud and content hubs. International capacity is reached via cross-border fibre into South Africa to access regional submarine cables such as EASSy; there are no domestic cable landings.
On mobile access, Lesotho was an early African pioneer of standards-based 5G, with Vodacom launching a commercial fixed-wireless 5G service on 3.5 GHz for enterprise users in 2018—among the continent’s first real deployments. This sits alongside nationwide 4G and steady use of mobile networks as the primary broadband path.
Guinea-Bissau has an internet penetration of around 32-33% of its population (≈ 720-750 thousand users) as of early 2025. It has more mobile connections than people — mobile connections account for about 118% of total population — with about 80%+ of those connections being ‘broadband capable’ (i.e. 3G/4G/5G networks) though actual usage lags.
Among its stronger regional indicators is mobile money’s contribution to GDP: in 2023, mobile money accounted for over 5% of GDP in Guinea-Bissau, putting it in a group of West African countries where digital financial services are becoming significant economic contributors.
However, Guinea-Bissau faces notable constraints: its cybersecurity preparedness is very low (score ~ 10/100 in the Global Cybersecurity Index), and its internet resilience score is about 20%, meaning it is not yet well placed to absorb outages, disruptions, or security threats. Also, market competition among ISPs is poor, locally cached content is minimal (< 1%), IPv6 adoption is almost nonexistent (< 1%), and cost of basic internet is quite high relative to income.
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South Sudan’s digital landscape is evolving, marked by gradual improvements in connectivity and technology adoption. As of early 2024, internet penetration reached 12.1%, with approximately 1.36 million users, reflecting a modest increase from 7.0% in 2023. Active cellular mobile connections also grew to 3.97 million, accounting for 35.5% of the population.
The government, through the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, and Postal Services, is spearheading initiatives to enhance digital infrastructure and services. Collaborations with international organizations have led to the establishment of the country’s first E-commerce Hub in Juba, aiming to bolster online business activities.
Despite these advancements, challenges persist, including limited infrastructure, low digital literacy, and economic constraints. Efforts to improve connectivity have been made, such as the 2020 completion of a fiber-optic link connecting Juba to Mombasa, Kenya, via Uganda, which enhanced internet access and reduced costs.
The telecommunications sector is primarily served by operators like MTN South Sudan and Zain South Sudan, with recent developments including the launch of 4G services to improve internet speeds and accessibility
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Bolivia’s digital landscape reflects rapid infrastructure growth and emerging institutional initiatives despite persistent gaps. The country expanded its national fibre-optic network from 5,000 km to over 27,000 km and connected nearly 9,000 underserved rural locations through the PRONTIS program. Internet penetration has reached approximately 70% as of 2025, and mobile subscriptions now exceed the population, with a rate of over 108%. Bolivia also significantly improved its internet exchange point (IXP), reducing domestic latency from over 600ms to around 11ms—placing it among regional leaders in local traffic efficiency.
Bolivia does not yet have a comprehensive national digital strategy or AI strategy, but foundational initiatives exist. Law No. 31814 (2023) introduces principles for responsible AI adoption and designates the Secretariat of Government and Digital Transformation as the oversight authority. AGETIC leads digital government efforts through the Digital Citizenship Law, Digital Agenda 2025 process, and inclusive literacy programs, while recent efforts, such as the Lab‑IA AI lab for fiscal analytics and geospatial AI tools for vaccination planning, signal early-stage integration of emerging technologies.
However, Bolivia continues to lag in cybersecurity and data protection. It has no operational national CERT, no data protection authority, and no enacted comprehensive privacy law—though draft legislation has been pending since 2018. Despite these gaps, Bolivia stands out regionally for its progress in rural connectivity access, low-latency national routing, and public–private collaborations in telecom innovation and AI experimentation. Continued investment and regulatory development will be key to sustaining inclusive digital transformation.
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The Republic of the Congo has made significant gains in advancing its digital infrastructure and strategic capacity. At the heart of its connectivity framework is the Central African Backbone (CAB)—a regional fiber-optic network that links the country’s port city, Pointe‑Noire, to Brazzaville and northward to Ouesso—strengthening both national and cross-border internet connectivity. Complementing this backbone, the regulator ARPCE, established in 2009, oversees the development and governance of telecommunications, postal services, and radio spectrum—supporting orderly market growth.
Under its national digital strategy, ‘Congo Digital 2025‘, the country is advancing several foundational digital public infrastructure projects. Notably, it has initiated a roadmap to develop a secure and inclusive digital identity system, marking a pivotal step toward robust digital governance. Through the Digital Acceleration Project, supported by the World Bank, the government has connected 12 ministries, agencies, and a major university, signalling real momentum in building interagency digital cohesion. Additionally, the country has enhanced its digital broadcasting capacity via a digital terrestrial television training program, positioning itself ahead of many regional peers in media and broadcast modernisation.
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Costa Rica has established itself as one of the regional leaders in internet governance and digital rights, with a strong commitment to the multistakeholder model. The country created the Internet Governance Council (CCI) to guide digital policy and operates NIC Costa Rica, which manages the .cr domain and runs CRIX, the national Internet Exchange Point. Internet access is recognised as a human right, and Costa Rica consistently ranks at the top of Latin America in terms of internet freedom, reflecting both legal protections and institutional safeguards.
Digital infrastructure has expanded considerably, anchored by multiple submarine cable connections and soon to be strengthened by the TAM-1 system, which will increase international bandwidth capacity more than twentyfold by 2025. This development positions Costa Rica among the most connected countries in Central America. Domestic infrastructure is supported by CRIX and a competitive telecommunications sector, with broadband and mobile penetration among the highest in the region.
The country has also advanced in digital services and innovation. The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2024–2027) made Costa Rica one of the first in Central America to adopt a comprehensive AI policy, emphasising ethics and alignment with UNESCO standards.
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Chile has built one of the most advanced digital ecosystems in Latin America, supported by strong infrastructure, progressive regulation, and strategic planning. It was the first country in the world to legislate net neutrality (2010) and has continued to lead regionally in broadband development and connectivity. With projects such as Fibra Óptica Austral and participation in international submarine cables like Curie, Chile has extended high-capacity networks across remote areas. Its flagship Humboldt cable, developed with Google, will connect South America to Oceania, positioning Chile as a strategic hub for intercontinental digital traffic.
Cloud and data infrastructure are expanding rapidly, making Chile one of the largest and fastest-growing data centre markets in the region. Global providers such as AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Huawei are investing heavily, with AWS planning a US$4 billion cloud region by 2026 and Microsoft already operating its first Chilean region. Combined with a renewable energy base and political stability, these factors place Chile among the regional leaders in cloud readiness, low-latency infrastructure, and digital services integration. Domestic initiatives like Chile Digital 2035 set clear targets for universal 5G coverage and 100% digitalisation of public services by 2035.
Policy frameworks reinforce this technological base with comprehensive coverage of cybersecurity, data protection, and artificial intelligence. The National Cybersecurity Policy 2023–2028, supported by the 2024 Cybersecurity Framework Law, created a dedicated agency and mandatory security obligations for essential services. Chile has also modernised its data protection regime with Law No. 21,719, aligning closely with GDPR standards and introducing an independent supervisory authority from 2026. Its National AI Policy 2021–2030 and draft AI Bill place the country among the few in the region to legislate AI under a risk-based model.
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Barbados has one of the more advanced connectivity profiles in the Caribbean. Flow’s completion of a nationwide fibre-to-the-home rollout in 2021 made Barbados the first island in the region with 100% FTTH coverage, replacing copper entirely. Internet use is high for a small island state, with around 80% of the population online in 2023, positioning Barbados among the better-connected Caribbean economies.
On the regulatory side, Barbados has a comprehensive, GDPR-style Data Protection Act 2019-29, in force since March 2021, which regional overviews describe as one of the more advanced privacy regimes in the Caribbean. This sits alongside modern telecommunications and e-transactions laws, giving the country a relatively sophisticated legal framework for digital services compared to many of its neighbours.
Digital adoption is also visible in payments and services. The Central Bank’s Digital Payments Index shows cheque usage more than halving over the last decade, while direct electronic transfers grew by over 700% and cash in circulation fell sharply, signalling broad uptake of digital channels. Combined with full-fibre connectivity, these trends underpin an active digital government agenda and position Barbados near the regional frontier on several key digital indicators, even if its AI and cloud ecosystems are still in an early development phase.
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