Africa is hungry for broadband, but it’s going to cost at least $70 billion to start filling the gap. The continent has next-to-no fast and reliable connectivity, which would aid it in growing economies, bolstering health care, and taking education to rural areas. With an assortment of undersea cables arriving in the next few years, at least the coastal regions will be connected to the world. These connections must be moved inland, however.

Convergence Partners CEO Brandon Doyle explains that the continent accounts for 15 percent of the world’s population, but only ten percent of its mobile population, and three percent of its internet population, which is where the critical gap lies.