Latest report released by the Global System for Mobile Communications Alliance (GSMA), has said Nigeria and Ethiopia will record the fastest growth rates between now and 2025, at 19 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
The report also noted that within the period, the demographic bulge across the region will result in large numbers of young consumers becoming adults and owning a mobile phone for the first time, which will account for the majority of new mobile subscribers and will “significantly” influence mobile usage patterns in the future.
Also, GSMA report indicated 3G will overtake 2G to become the leading mobile technology in sub-Saharan Africa during 2019, following doubled 3G adoption over the last two years as a result of network coverage expansion and cheaper devices.
While revealing that Sub-Saharan Africa lags other regions in 4G adoption, it noted that as it accounted for 7 per cent of total connections in the region by the end of 2018, compared to the global average of 44 percent.
It also added that the high cost of 4G-enabled devices and delays in assigning 4G spectrum to established service providers in some markets have been among the factors holding back 4G uptake.
The new report disclosed that mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase from 456 million by the end of 2018 to over 600 million by 2025, representing around half the population in the region.
Besides, it averred that the Sub-Saharan Africa will remain the fastest growing region of mobile subscribers with the average annual growth rate of 4.6 percent over the period to 2025, said the report released at the opening session of the three-day GSMA Mobile 360 Africa conference in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.
