Countries

Monaco, despite its small size, is firmly connected to the global internet infrastructure through critical submarine cable systems. The Europe India Gateway (EIG) is a major international cable spanning 15,000 kilometres and linking Europe, Africa, and Asia, with Monaco as one of its key connection points. Operational since 2011, this cable provides high-speed bandwidth and resilience for international data traffic, making Monaco part of a global digital network that connects as far as India. Additionally, the Italy-Monaco cable, which has been in operation since 2001, links the principality directly to Genoa, Italy, stretching 260 kilometres. These submarine cables are essential for Monaco’s digital ambitions, supporting its thriving financial sector, advanced e-governance, and digital innovation under the ‘Extended Monaco’ initiative.

Consult Monaco’s digital strategies and regulations

Follow Monaco’s digital submarine cables

Moldova’s digital infrastructure is among the strongest in the region. It ranks third globally for gigabit‑capable fiber coverage, with roughly 90% of the population able to subscribe to gigabit‑speed plans. The country also boasts 98% 4G mobile coverage, earning recognition from the UN Development Programme for its advanced digital infrastructure despite economic challenges.

In e‑government, Moldova is making significant strides. The Digital Transformation Strategy (2023–2030) aims for full digital delivery of key public services. Notably, 100 % of key services are now available online, and about 70% of business‑oriented public services were accessed online in 2023—exceeding targets set for 2026. On connectivity adoption, Moldova’s fixed broadband take-up among households reached 86% in 2023, which is above the EU average, while overall household broadband usage was 93%.

Consult Moldova’s digital strategies and regulations

Follow Moldova’s digital infrastructure

Malaysia has positioned itself as a leading digital hub in Southeast Asia, driven by the MyDIGITAL Blueprint and national initiatives to enhance connectivity and digital infrastructure. Through programs like JENDELA, 4G coverage has expanded to over 96%, while the Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) rollout has achieved over 52% 5G adoption by the end of 2024, placing Malaysia among the top regional performers.

The country is a critical node in regional and global connectivity, hosting more than 23 active and planned submarine cable systems with landing stations in Penang, Cherating, Morib, and other locations. Key systems such as SEA-ME-WE 4, AAE-1, Asia-Pacific Gateway, and the upcoming SEA-ME-WE 6 link Malaysia to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, making it one of Southeast Asia’s most connected nations. Domestically, the SKR1M cable integrates Peninsular Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak, ensuring nationwide resilience and supporting the government’s goal to position Malaysia as a regional submarine cable gateway.

Malaysia’s digital governance framework is anchored by the Ministry of Digital and regulatory bodies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), MDEC, and CyberSecurity Malaysia. Comprehensive strategies cover areas like AI policy, cloud infrastructure, data protection, and cybersecurity, supported by institutions such as the National AI Office. With ambitious targets, including the digital economy contributing 22.6% of GDP by 2025, Malaysia is emerging as a regional leader in 5G connectivity, submarine cable infrastructure, and cloud ecosystem development, supported by strong public-private partnerships and integration into global digital networks.

Consult Malaysia’s AI and digital strategies and regulations

Follow Malaysia’s digital submarine cables

Mongolia’s digital profile is powerfully shaped by digital government delivery. In the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) 2024, Mongolia is reported at 46th of 193, up from 74th in 2022, with an E-Participation rank of 37th (a comparatively high global position and a notable jump over one survey cycle). A government/ITU presentation also reports scale-up of the E-Mongolia platform to ~1.6 million users, ~2,000 services across 83 entities, and 33.2 million online service deliveries (usage totals, not unique users).

In terms of connectivity, Mongolia’s most striking indicators relate to its reach in a sparsely populated territory and high mobile usage. An ITU/MDDIC presentation citing the communications regulator states that all provinces and soums (325) are connected to fibre, totalling 48,644 km of fibre optic cable. The same source reports ~137 mobile subscriptions per 100 people (compared vs the world average of 107) and that 98% of citizens over 15 used a cell phone in the prior three months. Mongolia also officially introduced 5G on 15 May 2025, following spectrum validation and a licensing/selection process led by the Communications Regulatory Commission.

The ‘trust’ layer is anchored in a recent legal package and national strategies. Mongolia’s Cyber Security Law dates to 17 December 2021, and the government approved the National Cybersecurity Strategy via Resolution No. 493 (28 December 2022). Personal data rules were modernised with the Law on Personal Data Protection (adopted 17 December 2021, effective 1 May 2022), while a mid-term Digital Nation policy for 2022–2027 frames work on infrastructure, e-government, security and skills.

Consult Mongolia’s digital strategies and regulations

Explore Mongolia’s digital infrastructure

Nigeria’s digital foundations are now region-leading in a few concrete ways. Domestic traffic increasingly stays on-net: the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) crossed 1 Tbps peak local traffic in 2025, an adoption milestone that reduces latency and costs and signals a mature interconnection market. International capacity is broad and redundant: legacy systems (SAT-3, MainOne, Glo-1, WACS) have been joined by Equiano (landed Lagos in 2022) and 2Africa (landed at Lagos and a second site in Akwa Ibom in 2024), improving diversity beyond the Lagos cluster.

On access and coverage, Nigeria runs with a clear national playbook. The National Broadband Plan 2020–2025 targets minimum speeds of 25 Mbps (urban) and 10 Mbps (rural) with ≥90% population coverage and affordability benchmarks, while the National Policy on 5G (2021) set the framework for spectrum awards and commercial rollout. Recent initiatives like the National Broadband Alliance for Nigeria (NBAN) aim to accelerate deployment toward those goals.

In digital services and trust, indicators are moving quickly. Real-time payments over NIBSS rails reached about ₦1.07 quadrillion in 2024, underlining Nigeria’s continental lead in account-to-account usage. Data protection is governed by the Nigeria Data Protection Act (2023) under the NDPC, which has begun headline enforcement—useful context for platforms handling customer data.

Consult Nigeria’s digital strategies and regulations

Follow Nigeria’s digital submarine cables

Uganda’s standout digital strength is mobile money. Global Findex data show East Africa among the world’s highest shares of adults using mobile-money services. Uganda is one of the regional leaders in this indicator; mobile wallets are widely used for payments, savings, and credit, underpinning much of the country’s consumer internet economy.

On the infrastructure side, Uganda has been an early regional mover in neutral data-centre quality and domestic backbone build-out. Raxio Uganda became the country’s first Uptime Institute Tier III–certified carrier-neutral facility in 2020 (at the time, one of fewer than 15 such neutral sites in Africa and only the second in East Africa). Kampala’s Uganda Internet eXchange Point (UIXP) localises traffic and promotes interconnection among domestic and international networks, supporting lower latency and costs. The government has also completed 4,387 km of national backbone fibre and launched Phase 5 to extend coverage further.

In digital public infrastructure, Uganda is among the earliest African adopters of real-time e-invoicing. Since 1 January 2021, VAT-registered firms must issue electronic invoices through URA’s EFRIS system, which has continued to expand in scope. These rails complement a maturing regulatory stack (e.g. National Payment Systems framework) and help formalise online commerce and services.

Consult Uganda’s digital strategies and regulations

Follow Uganda’s digital submarine cables

Digital Snapshot – Key Policies and Laws

Namibia’s digital profile is increasingly shaped by a push to modernise the state while catching up on legal safeguards. In the UN’s 2024 E-Government Development Index, Namibia scored 0.6007 and ranked 114th of 193, improving from 121st in 2022, but its strongest gains came in telecom infrastructure rather than e-participation.

The policy framework has become clearer in the past two years. The government’s National Digital Strategy 2025–2028 and MICT Strategic Plan 2025–2030 place digital public services, connectivity, digital skills, innovation, and regulation at the centre of Namibia’s development agenda. The official policy portal also lists the country’s core digital instruments, including the National Cybersecurity Strategy, National Broadband Policy, UAS Policy, and older sector policies for telecoms, postal services, and broadcasting.

The most consequential unresolved issue is data protection. Namibia’s digital economy has expanded without a verified standalone data protection law in force, even as government officials increasingly describe the Data Protection Bill as essential for protecting personal data and supporting digital services. Official statements in 2024–2025 said consultations were complete and that the bill was being prepared for, or expected to move through, Cabinet and then Parliament, making it one of the country’s most cross-cutting digital governance reforms.

Data governance rules for a digital future

Namibia’s long-discussed Data Protection Bill has become one of the country’s most consequential digital governance initiatives. For years, the digital economy expanded without a comprehensive personal-data law, even as online services, e-commerce, and digital government systems grew. By 2024–2026, officials increasingly framed the bill as essential to safeguarding people’s online lives and strengthening trust in digital services. If adopted, it would establish baseline rules for the collection, use, sharing, and protection of personal data across both public and private sectors. Its scope could affect multiple domains at once, from digital ID and AI deployment to fintech and cybersecurity response. Government representatives have described the bill as a cornerstone of Namibia’s digital transformation agenda. Yet the legislative process has moved slowly, reflecting both the complexity of the issue and the need to balance innovation, security, and fundamental rights.

Cybersecurity is moving in parallel, but more controversially. Namibia has an official National Cybersecurity Strategy, an Awareness Raising Plan on the books, and the Cybercrime Bill 2026. Together, these show a state trying to build a fuller cyber governance architecture, but also one entering the familiar tension between stronger cyber powers and the need to protect rights such as privacy and freedom of expression.

In terms of digital infrastructure, Namibia is relatively well-positioned by regional standards. The government reported 4G population coverage of 88.4% in 2025/26, while major submarine cable investments have given the country two key international links: WACS, which landed in Swakopmund in 2011, and Equiano, activated through Telecom Namibia in 2024 after landing in 2022. CRAN’s 5G Strategy 2023–2027 adds a next-generation mobile roadmap to that infrastructure base.

Namibia’s wider digital economy and emerging-tech landscape remain more enabling than prescriptive. The Electronic Transactions Act provides the legal backbone for e-commerce, electronic signatures, electronic evidence, and consumer protection in online commerce, but I could not verify a standalone AI strategy or cloud policy. Instead, AI, cloud, and other 4IR technologies are primarily addressed through broader digital and infrastructure strategies, alongside the Access to Information Act and its 2024 regulations, which strengthen transparency in digital governance.

Related news on dig.watch

• Starlink operations halted in Namibia for lacking licence
• Namibia’s President calls for a digital future that leaves no one behind | UNGA78
• Germany and Namibia, co-facilitators of the Summit of the Future, publish zero draft of the Pact for the Future
• Namibia aims for digital inclusivity: broadband access to reach 95% by 2024
• Major African Internet connections disrupted as two vital undersea cables fail

Namibia’s permanent mission to the UN:

Namibia’s Permanent Mission in Geneva represents the country to the UN Office at Geneva and other international organisations based there. It serves as Namibia’s diplomatic channel for multilateral work on issues such as human rights, trade, health, development, and disarmament, while also maintaining bilateral and consular functions through its representation in Geneva. The UN Geneva Blue Book lists the mission at Allée David-Morse 8, 1202 Geneva, with its official website and contact details.

Official UNOG website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/namibia

Official website: https://missionofnamibia.ch

Facebook page

Consult Namibia’s digital strategies and regulations

Follow Namibia’s digital submarine cables

Digital snapshot – key policies and laws

The core institution of Paraguay’s digital governance is MITIC (Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación), supported by the Plan Nacional de TIC 2022–2030 and Paraguay’s Agenda Digital, which frames Paraguay’s digital policy around connectivity, state modernisation, competitiveness, and safer digital services. Public-sector digitalisation is well structured: updated e-government guidelines were approved in 2024, Portal Paraguay serves as the single-government portal, and electronic identity is now the authentication layer for digital services. Back-office interoperability is also advancing: MITIC says 76 state entities use its online document management system and have processed more than 130,000 consultations.

In the UN 2024 E-Government Development Index, Paraguay ranked 80th of 193 countries, up from 94th in 2022, and entered the high-EGDI group; its e-participation rank also improved to 72nd.

Regarding cybersecurity, the country adopted the National Cybersecurity Strategy 2025–2028, which was officially enacted by Decree No. 3900 in 2025. In 2025, MITIC reported a data breach involving 7.4 million records containing personally identifiable information (PII) of Paraguayan citizens, which were for sale on the dark web.

Paraguay’s data turning point

Paraguay took a major step in digital governance with Law No. 7593/2025, its first comprehensive personal data protection law, published on 27 November 2025. The law replaces a more fragmented framework built around older rules on private and credit data, including Law No. 1682/2001 and later amendments and Law No. 6534 on credit data. In practical terms, it sets a broader baseline for how personal data may be collected, used, shared, and protected across both public and private sectors. That makes it relevant not only for privacy and digital rights, but also for e-commerce, public services, cross-border business, and the governance of AI.

In terms of infrastructure, Paraguay’s main connectivity framework is the Plan Nacional de Telecomunicaciones 2021–2025, which covers broadband expansion and telecom development; there is no clearly identifiable standalone 5G strategy, but CONATEL has moved forward with spectrum and licensing steps for 5G deployment. At the access level, MITIC says the country now has more than 400 public Wi-Fi points, including in rural and Indigenous communities, and 47 satellite internet access points in the Chaco, while Paraguay’s international connectivity still depends primarily on terrestrial links to neighbouring countries’ submarine-cable landing points

Paraguay has not yet adopted a formal national AI strategy or a standalone AI law, but it has completed a UNESCO-backed AI readiness assessment, which was presented as a roadmap for a more ethical and responsible AI framework. The country is also investing in sovereign digital infrastructure through a Tier III State Data Center project, while recent tender coverage points to a continued push for secure, scalable hosting for public services.

E-commerce is regulated by Law No. 4868/2013, supported by the legal validity framework for electronic signatures and trust services in Laws No. 4017/2010 and 6822/2022. Payment policy has become more modern and interoperable. In 2024, the Central Bank of Paraguay required PSPs (payment service providers) that process QR payments to use an Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV)-based QR standard, a practical step toward a more integrated digital payments market.

Related news on dig.watch

• Paraguay introduces AI rules for courts with UNESCO support and human oversight focus
• Paraguay denies Bitcoin legal tender announcement

Paraguay’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva:

Paraguay’s Permanent Mission in Geneva is the country’s main diplomatic platform for engagement with the UN Office at Geneva and other specialised international bodies based there. The Foreign Ministry lists it at Rue de Varembé 9-11, 1202 Geneva, with Ambassador Raúl Cano Ricciardi as permanent representative.

Official UNOG website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/paraguay

EMBASSY AND PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN – GENEVA

Consult Paraguay’s digital strategies and regulations

Here you can explore the country’s main digital strategies, laws, and regulations by simply asking the chatbot, which is designed to help you quickly find relevant documents and understand the country’s digital policy landscape.

Main digital policies and regulations in the country:

• Guía de contenidos para el Plan Anual de Comunicación Institucional de Organismos y Entidades del Estado
• Plan Nacional De Telecomunicaciones 2021 – 2025
• Plan Nacional de TIC 2022 – 2030
• Ciberseguridad y Protección de la información
• Estándar de Software: Desarrollo y adquisición
• Guía de Controles Críticos de Ciberseguridad
• Criterios mínimos de seguridad para el desarrollo y adquisición de software

Follow Paraguay’s digital infrastructure