Côte d’Ivoire is accelerating the deployment of its digital infrastructure in rural areas. The government is continuing the National Rural Connectivity Programme (PNCR), with a budget of 38 billion CFA francs, or approximately $68 million, to extend mobile and Internet coverage to 575 localities across the country.
Presented in a statement published on Monday, August 24, the initiative aims to reduce regional inequalities in access to digital technology and bring rural populations closer to services that now largely depend on connectivity.
Antennas to Connect Remote Areas
The programme provides for the installation of radio sites in areas where geographical remoteness and infrastructure costs make investment less attractive to telecom operators.
The first phase, financed with 10 billion CFA francs and completed in 2024, made it possible to build 160 sites in 175 localities, providing network access to approximately 221,267 residents.
The second phase mobilizes 18 billion CFA francs to connect an additional 240 localities. A third phase, estimated at 10 billion CFA francs, is expected to cover another 160 localities.
From Phone Calls to Mobile Money: Uses Are Expanding
The programme’s impact now goes beyond simply making calls or accessing the Internet. In several villages, the arrival of network coverage is paving the way for new services and economic activities.
In Zandanakaha, in the Ouangolodougou department, the installation of an antenna in February 2025 notably encouraged the development of mobile money services.
Residents can now make deposits, withdrawals and money transfers without having to travel several kilometres. The same development has taken place in Kotolo, in the Dabakala department, where a radio site commissioned in January 2025 now allows local populations to access mobile communications and video calls. These experiences illustrate the PNCR’s ambition: to make digital coverage a genuine infrastructure for economic and social connectivity.
Target: 100% 4G Coverage by 2030
The programme is part of a broader national strategy for the development of digital infrastructure. Côte d’Ivoire had 5,207 kilometres of national broadband network, while 4G coverage reached 65% of the territory in 2024.
As part of the 2026–2030 National Development Plan, the government now aims to increase 4G coverage to 100% of the territory and raise the proportion of the population using the Internet from 40.7% to 60% by 2030.
The challenge therefore goes beyond telephone coverage alone. In rural areas, network access is increasingly essential to the development of digital payments, online public services, access to information and new economic activities.
Through the PNCR, Abidjan is thus seeking to reduce the digital divide while making connectivity a tool for the development and integration of rural areas.