Africa still the fastest growing mobile region

CAPE TOWN,

Sub-Saharan Africa is set to remain the world’s fastest growing mobile market in the coming years, an industry report has said.

According to operators body GSM Association, the region’s number of unique subscribers stood at 253 million in June this year and will hit 346 million by 2017.

“Despite the astonishing progress of the mobile industry in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, the biggest impact of mobile in Africa is yet to come,” the report said.

“Roughly two thirds of the population are still without a mobile subscription, leaving much room for growth.”

The region’s number of mobile users have grown by 18 per cent annually over the past five years, but penetration is the lowest in the world at close to 31 per cent.

“This highlights the long-term growth potential of the region,” said the GSMA Tuesday.

Penetration is 66 per cent in the continent’s economic powerhouse, South Africa, and has reached 30 per cent in Nigeria, which has the largest population in Africa, according to 2012 figures.

The global average is nearly one in two users, and four out of five in the European Union.

But while growth rates are slowing worldwide, including in sub-Saharan Africa, the region is set to remain at almost twice the global average.

The low number of people who have a cell phone meant more operators had to invest to reach the unconnected, said Mr Peter Lyons, GSMA director of spectrum policy for Africa and the Middle East. (AFP)

“But it means also there’s a lot of responsibility on the part of government to create an environment that the operators can actually reach these people,” he told AFP.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 95 percent of users are on prepaid plans.

“Incremental subscriber growth will come almost entirely from rural and lower income populations, reinforcing the need to further improve the affordability of mobile services and to extend network coverage,” said the GSMA.

“We can see that there’s a lot more room left for growth, a lot more room for affordability, a lot more room for coverage, but it requires a sustained investment on an incredible scale,” said Lyons.

Operators had invested 44 billion dollars over the past six years, but in return needed spectrum and a “very progressive tax policy” that did not penalise subscribers, he said.

The broader mobile industry’s contribution to GDP is the highest in the world and is set to rise to over eight percent by 2020, said the report.