According to Mobile Economy report Africa by GSMA, more than half a billion people across Africa are now subscribed to mobile services,making Africa the second-largest though the least penetrated mobile market in the world.
The report says that there were 557 million unique mobile subscribers across Africa at the end of 2015, representing 46 percent of the continent’s population. Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa combined accounted for around a third of the total subscriber base with the number of unique mobile subscribers forecasted to hit 725 million by 2020.
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As at June -2016, there were 72 live 4G networks in 32 countries across Africa, half of which have launched in the last two years. The number of smartphone connections in Africa was at 226 million in 2015 this number is expected to reach to 720 million by 2020.
According to the report,mobile services contributed about $153 billion (KES 15 Trillion) to African countries’ GDP. The sector created over 3.8 million jobs (Both formal & Informal) in 2015 and this is expected to grow to 4.5 million by 2020.The industry contributed $17 billion in form of taxes and the contribution is expected to increase to $20.5 billion by 2020.
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The number of internet users via phones in Africa was at 300 million in 2015 with an additional 250 million people are expected to join the league by 2020.
“The positive transformational impact of mobile is being felt more profoundly in Africa than anywhere else in the world; Africa’s mobile industry is at the forefront of helping to deliver the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals],” Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.
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