If you think using 4G Internet is a bare minimum, imagine being stuck on 2G in 2026, a year when astronauts are travelling further in space and breaking new records. Yet, there are communities in Burundi living this reality; the country’s third-largest telecom operator just remembered them and wants to put an end to their nightmare.
Onatel, the state-owned telco, has signed a$5.9 million contract with the Project Support to Digital Economy Foundations (PAFEN) programme, a government initiative aiming to increase digital adoption in the country, to deploy 4G mobile Internet across 92 rural communities, reaching an estimated 370,000 people within eighteen months.
Why it matters: It is the second major infrastructure agreement under PAFEN, following Lumitel’s $5.2 million deal in March, which the World Bank topped up to round to $10 million. Both deals target 178 communities and nearly 786,000 residents.
Between the lines: In 2025,Burundi’s Internet penetration stood at 12.5%, with only 32% of its population on 4G. As of 2020,the World Bank estimated that 66% of mobile subscribers still relied on 2G, a figure that has likely worsened since then due to the country’s declining urban population. Burundi is one of thepoorest countries in the world, with73.2% of its adult population living in rural areas.
The Burundian government, with support from the World Bank, is trying to incentivise telecom infrastructure investment in the deepest stretches of the country, even allowing operators to co-own and share resources.
Zoom out: A 2026 GSMA Mobile Economy report estimates that about 21% of Africa’s population, roughly 386 million people, will be on 5G networks by 2030, while globally, legacy 2G and 3G networks will fall to just 1% and 5% of connections, respectively. About 370,000 Burundians might just count themselves lucky not to be a part of that metric—if Onatel keeps to its word and hastens deployment before 2030.