Leo S.
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Verified by
Sander D.
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Last updated:
August 1, 2024
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(0)
Ah Africa, that continent that offers so much and that is often forgotten by the world regarding… well pretty much everything unfortunately. The case is the same for users who like VPNs living there, as there aren’t that many providers to choose from in Africa or the ones you can choose from exist in a very short scale, granting you as many options as you can count with one hand. Along the next few lines we’ll discuss how did our fellow Africans got such a limited presence in the world of VPN networks, analyze the state of internet and/or privacy laws of African countries , geo blocks in appliance and much more. Also we will investigate what are the best VPN providers for Africa at the moment.
To begin with, Africa is often the last continent to be conquered by VPN providers. The majority of these providers start by distributing their servers in the countries close to where the headquarters of the company are located. After that, they often expand their server network to the most “important” areas such as the U.S., Europe, Australia, or Asian countries like Japan, China or Singapore and lastly to South and Central America (usually Brazil, Argentina, Mexico etc.)
African countries are, therefore, usually the last addition to the list. Another reasons for this is that, whether we want it or not, the vast majority of people live in poor conditions over there, and internet access is not the number one priority. In South Africa for instance – by far the most developed country on the continent – the number of people who actually have internet access is only between 40% and 45%, which is less than half of the country’s population. In addition, the big majority of internet users in this country is located in Johannesburg.
Another important factor for the lack of VPN support in the African continent is the great instability of many countries which have strong laws and controversial governments that limit people’s freedom. If we return to South Africa, fortunately there isn’t that much internet censorship. In fact, since 2013 there have been laws to protect individual’s personal data and online privacy, such as PoPI (Protection of Personal Information Act). This is probably why this country is the sole addition from this continent in man VPN networks. Nonetheless, the country’s internet is considered only as “partially free”, according to the Freedom of the Net Report since there is still some content that is simply not available. There is also a bill in court that could limit journalist’s actions and more. Notwithstanding, the same cannot be said about countries like Algeria or Egypt, where governments are unstable, attacks against the freedom of press and journalist arrests happen on a daily basis. In Egypt, in 2011 there was an inclusive internet and mobile blackout initiated by the government.
Considering all of this, it is important to use a VPN in Africa not only to be able to access otherwise blocked content (which is quite vital especially for journalists), but users will also be constantly protected from the ISP’s and the government’s snooping eyes.
In the same manner how some content does not even reach African shores, other originating from there does not actually leave the place. This means that if you’re an African living abroad, or you are simply interested in some African TV shows, you may be the one left out. Thanks to a VPN that offers at least one server located in Africa, you’ll be able to enjoy the show, as that server will assign an African IP address to you once you are connected to it. Once you visit the page again, all access will be granted.
Perhaps the most important feature when using a VPN in Africa, – besides the aforementioned level of protection – is the ability to access geo-blocked content. In fact, the majority of the world’s most desired content, such as Netflix U.S. with a complete library, or BBC iPlayer among many others, is not available outside the region they belong to, or have many infuriating limitations. With a VPN all you need is to connect to a server where the content is available originally (United States and Great Britain in this case) and simply grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy.
The marketing team of VyprVPN deserves a high-five for one of the most feared providers in the world, as it brings one of the most complete and quality services among VPN companies with top notch features to assure you full protection and geo-blocked content access. VyprVPN is a service brought to you by GoldenFrog, the same company behind other software such as CYPHR. The latest VPN network updates brought an addition of 15 new server locations, marking the company’s debut in Africa, with brand new servers in Algeria and Egypt. You can obtain VyprVPN for only $6.67 per month, or even give it a try, using the company’s 3-day free trial.
Besides having one of the most humorous names in the vast VPN world, HMA is also one of the best providers with a decent feature list. The company offers one of the greatest VPN server networks known to date, with 940+ VPN servers in over 350 locations and more than 190 countries. The list of available areas also includes Africa, with an impressive count of 53 server locations, in some unusual countries like Lesotho, Mauritania or Liberia, besides some well-known others like South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and more. HMA’s pricing starts at $6.55 per month.
Our final suggestion for an African VPN service is a quite remarkable provider, with a server network not as extensive as the previously mentioned one: ExpressVPN. This provider also gets the job done, as it offers 136 VPN server locations in 87 countries, including a couple of African ones. Algeria, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and others are all on ExpressVPN’s list, allowing unlimited bandwidth and server switches. With a cost of $8.32 per month you can enjoy full year of geo-block free and protected access. Last but not least, you can also use the 30-day money back guarantee and use ExpressVPN free of charge.
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