INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Sub-Saharan Africa to surpass
half a billion mobile subscribers
by end of decade
The number of unique mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa will grow
from 43% of the population at the end of 2016 to 50% in 2020
M
ore than half a billion people
across sub-Saharan Africa
will be subscribed to a mobile
service by the end of a decade, according
to a new GSMA study. The new report,
The Mobile Economy: Sub-Saharan
Africa 2017, was published at the GSMA
Mobile 360 – Africa event. It forecasts
that the number of unique mobile
subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa will
grow from 420 million (43% of the
population) at the end of 2016 to 535
million (50% of the population) in 2020,
making it the fastest growing region in
the world over this period. The report also
highlights the sub-Saharan Africa mobile
ecosystem’s growing contribution to
regional GDP, jobs, innovation and socio-
economic development.
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“Sub-Saharan Africa will be a key engine
of subscriber growth for the world’s
mobile industry over the next few years
as we connect millions of previously
unconnected men, women and young
people across the continent,” said Mats
Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.
“Mobile is also offering sustainable
solutions that address the lack of access
to services such as health, education,
electricity, clean water and financial
services, which still affect large swathes
of the population.”
Connecting the young and closing
the gender gap
Subscriber growth is expected to be
concentrated in large, underpenetrated
markets such as the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia,
Nigeria and Tanzania, which together
will account for half of the 115
million new subscribers expected in
sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. Growth
will also focus on currently under-
represented segments such as the
under–16 age group, which accounts
for more than 40% of the population
in many countries, and women, who
are currently 17% less likely to have a
mobile phone subscription than their
male counterparts.
Mobile is also a vital tool in delivering
digital and financial inclusion in sub-
Saharan Africa. Around 270 million
people in the region now access
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