Johannesburg, 30 March 2026 - The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), in partnership with the National Planning Commission (NPC), has completed South Africa’s Digital Connectivity Investment Roadmap to 2035, a comprehensive assessment of the country’s progress towards universal high-speed broadband and the investment required to achieve national connectivity targets by 2035.
The roadmap identifies investment gaps, priority actions, and partnership opportunities required to expand reliable high-speed broadband and accelerate South Africa’s progress toward an inclusive digital economy.
The research undertaken translates digital policy ambitions into a rigorous, costed, and fiscally aligned investment roadmap for Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI). It directly supports the National Development Plan (Vision 2030), SA Connect, the National Infrastructure Plan 2050 (NIP2050), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"This roadmap provides the country with a current, comprehensive, costed view of what is required to bridge the digital divide and achieve universal access to digital connectivity by 2035. It outlines a common, evidence-informed basis for coordinated planning across the public and private sector, in order to drive investment and delivery of the roadmap,” says Commissioner Mark Swilling from the NPC.
Methodologically, the study applied the World Bank’s Beyond the Gap (BtG) framework alongside the International Telecommunication Union’s Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC) standards. Through scenario modelling and GIS-based spatial mapping, it identifies geographic access gaps, quantifies capital and operational expenditure requirements across different economic and policy scenarios.
The study takes a comprehensive ecosystem approach, assessing infrastructure across international connectivity, backbone and metro networks, data centres, spectrum systems and last-mile access, alongside affordability, digital skills and institutional capacity as key enablers of meaningful connectivity. Furthermore, achieving universal high-speed access (100 Mbps) will require targeted upgrades, technology diversification and greater rural investment, with affordability remaining the primary, income-driven barrier.
“South Africa’s Digital Connectivity Investment Roadmap to 2035 goes beyond policy to deliver a clear implementation framework spanning spectrum reform, municipal capacity, digital skills, universal service, and demand-side support,” says Boitumelo Mosako, Chief Executive Officer of the DBSA. By clarifying institutional roles and strengthening intergovernmental coordination, the study establishes a practical platform for execution.
To support implementation, the study outlines three structured investment pathways for the period 2025 – 2035:
- a mobile-centric, least-cost model suited to constrained economic conditions;
- a hybrid mobile and fibre pathway balancing efficiency and performance; and
- a fibre-dominant, high-capacity trajectory aligned with economic recovery and enhanced competitiveness.
These pathways articulate trade-offs between fiscal effort, service ambition, technology mix, and long-term economic returns. An assessment of public funding, public–private partnerships, blended finance mechanisms, alongside institutional reforms to reduce deployment barriers and crowd in private capital, compliments the study.
Overall, the study provides the country with an evidence-based, fiscally grounded roadmap to achieve universal and meaningful connectivity, now requiring coordinated action to unlock its full potential for inclusive growth, better services, and long-term resilience.
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About the DBSA
The Development Bank of Southern Africa is one of the leading development financial institutions on the continent. Our primary purpose is delivering impactful development finance solutions that ignite transformative change in South Africa and on the rest of the African continent. Improving the quality of life of people in Africa is the fundamental focus of our development impact. We aim to bend the arc of history towards shared prosperity through multifaceted investments in sustainable infrastructure and human capacity.
Our product solutions span all phases of the infrastructure development value chain from infrastructure planning and project preparation, across a range of financing and non-financing investments to infrastructure implementation and delivery. Our primary areas of focus include Energy, ICT, Transport, Water and Sanitation. Our secondary area of focus includes Education, Housing and Health.
About the NPC
The National Planning Commission (NPC) is a diverse and independent advisory body and think tank – comprising carefully chosen experts in various fields and sectors - appointed by the President. It is the custodian of South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP): Vision 2030. The Commission is appointed for a five-year period and is chaired by the Minister in the Presidency. The basic role of the NPC is to advise government, and indeed all of society, on the implementation of the NDP: Vision 2030.