12 °c
London
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
No Result
View All Result
Home Africa

Africa’s mobile phone and population growth in the 21st century

Eric Osiakwan by Eric Osiakwan
October 7, 2020
in Africa, Development, Digital Inclusion, Economy, FA, Mobile, Report, Tech, Telecom
Reading Time: 4 mins read
1.7k 52
0
Digital innovation: Africa’s four MEGA TRENDS that are overcoming COVID19
Share via QRWhatsappShare on FacebookShare on TwitterLinkedInPinteresteMail

On the 1st of October 2020, the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA) released their “Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa” report which forecasted the mobile economy in Africa into 2025.¹ A positive outlook to start the month of October and the last quarter of 2020.

The highlight of this forecast is that by 2025, even with 1.05 billion sim connections and 614 million unique mobile subscribers and smartphone adoption reaching 65% of the total population, only 39% of Africans would be experiencing their mobile web on those smartphones. This seems to suggest that even though there would be exponential smartphone growth over the period the cost of connectivity may be a showstopper. That’s not necessarily the case because there’s more happening than meets the eye.

The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are going to spend collectively about $52 billion on infrastructure between now and 2025 and this would grow their revenues to $48 billion by 2025 – generating about a million formal and three million informal jobs across the continent.

By 2024, the mobile industry would contribute $184 billion to the continent’s collective GDP bringing it to the 9 to 10% of total GDP.  In the first quarter of 2020, the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector contributed 17.83% to the Nigerian economy²  – suggesting that the GDP contribution may be higher by the larger ICT sector.

Also read: COVID-19 is SPEEDING up the digital economy in Africa

According to the report, COVID-19 has increased the demand for digital services and so there is an urgent need for government to create policies that enhance access to connectivity and drive investment in more resilient digital infrastructure for the future. This is crucial to reactivating the region’s economy post Covid-19 as digital technologies play an even more important role in society.

The UN projects that Africa’s population of 1.3 billion would quadruple over the next two decades reaching 4.3 billion by the end of the century. While Asia’s share of global working-age population would be declining, Africa’s would be ascending eventually overtaking Asia by 2100.

Of Africa’s exponentially growing population 70% would be below 25 years old. Exactly the demographic that most embraces advanced mobile technologies and is using the mobile web platform to build solutions to the many problems they are faced with. Since the beginning of the 21st century, some of Africa’s youth have being building companies like Interswitch, Cellulant, MSF Africa, Hubtel, IrokoTV, Paga, Jumo, Farmerline, etc.

The most avid consumers of these mobile web solutions are the emerging middle class which according to the African Development Bank Group (“AfDB”) in 2011 was 313 million people accounting for 34% of the total population.³ This middle class spends on average $2.20 a day. The bank’s definition of middle class in Africa is people who spend the equivalent of $2 to $20 a day based on an assessment of the cost of living for Africa’s more than one billion people.

By 2060, the AfDB predicts that the number of middle-class Africans will grow to 1.1 billion and account for 42% of the predicted population. This means Africans living below the poverty line will be in the minority at 33%.

Now, to address what’s really going on with mobile growth and the seeming cost prohibitiveness of taking advantage of the growth. Given that the middle-class would grow and increase their purchasing power, they would have more disposable income to afford the cost of connectivity and more people would be able to do that. Secondly, as indicated by the GSMA in their report the cost of connectivity would reduce over the period and hence more people would experience their mobile web on smartphones.

To conclude, by the end of 2100, Africa’s population would most likely surpass Asia with a middle class that would be more than 50% of the population. Smartphone penetration would be almost 100% and the cost of connectivity would be more affordable such that majority of the population would have great mobile web experiences consuming mostly African applications developed by the African youth.

[1] https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GSMA_MobileEconomy2020_SSA_Eng.pdf

[2] https://itedgenews.ng/2020/08/25/nigerias-pulsating-ict-sector-now-contributes-17-83-to-gdp-nbs/?fbclid=IwAR3RRr94K2mfXdPQ0VJzLxeMnWBJlyyC0vJD4sQl2iiUf9PE_9rRaIbFqqg

[3] https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/the_middle_of_the_pyramid_the_middle_of_the_pyramid.pdf

Related

Tags: afdbafricaafrican development bankAfrica’s mobile phone and population growth in the 21st centuryCellulantconnectivitydigital servicesDigitizationEconomic GrowthEric OsiakwanFarmerlineFeatureGlobal System Mobile AssociationGSMAGSMA Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa reportHubtelICT sectorInformation Communication TechnologyInfrastructureinternet accessinternet penetrationInterswitchIrokoTVJUMOmiddle-classmobilemobile industrymobile networkmobile network operatorsmobile penetrationmobile phoneMSF AfricaPagapopulation growthsmartphonessurging middle-classtelecomафрикаأفريقياアフリカ非洲
ScanSendShare693Tweet433Share121Pin156Send
Eric Osiakwan

Eric Osiakwan

Eric Osiakwan, Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital is an Entrepreneur and Investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world. He has worked in 32 African countries setting up ISPs, ISPAs, IXPs and high-tech startups. He Co-Founded Angel Africa List, Angel Fair Africa and currently serves on a number of boards.   He was part of the team that built the TEAMS submarine cable in East Africa and an ICT Consultant for the WorldBank, Soros Foundations, UNDP, USAID, USDoJ, USDoS as well as African governments and private firms.   He authored “The KINGS of Africa’s Digital Economy”, co-authored the “Open Access Model”, adopted globally by the telecommunications industry, “Negotiating the Net” – the politics of Internet Diffusion in Africa and “The Internet in Ghana” with the Mosaic Group. He was invited to contribute ideas to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa. Eric is a TED, Stanford, MIT and Harvard fellow.

Related Posts

Energy

Towards Africa’s US$1.5 Trillion green hydrogen economy

by Energy Capital & Power
February 6, 2023
Fintech

Morocco’s rocky crypto journey

by Web3Africa
February 6, 2023
The Forbes Billionaires’ list: Africa’s richest people 2022
Private Equity

Adenia Capital (V) gets 75% of its target size at first close

by Africa Global Funds
February 6, 2023
Energy

Angola and Belgium talk renewable energy cooperation

by FurtherAfrica
February 6, 2023
Ghana holds key interest rate in the face of inflation pressures
Economy

List of companies ordered by Ghana to pay back-taxes grows

by FurtherAfrica
February 6, 2023
Platform Africa 2023
 
Mozambique eVisa
 
MozParks
 

Translate this page

Read the Latest

Energy

Towards Africa’s US$1.5 Trillion green hydrogen economy

by Energy Capital & Power
February 6, 2023
0

A new study, titled, ‘Africa’s Extraordinary Green Hydrogen Potential,’ conducted by the European Investment Bank (EIB), International Solar Alliance and...

Read more

Morocco’s rocky crypto journey

February 6, 2023
The Forbes Billionaires’ list: Africa’s richest people 2022

Adenia Capital (V) gets 75% of its target size at first close

February 6, 2023

Angola and Belgium talk renewable energy cooperation

February 6, 2023
Ghana holds key interest rate in the face of inflation pressures

List of companies ordered by Ghana to pay back-taxes grows

February 6, 2023

FurtherAfrica Partners Network

The Exchange Club of Mozambique Taarifa Rwanda
TechGist Africa Africa Oil & Power Farmers Review Africa
Tanzania Invest Zambia Invest See Africa Today
Africa Global Funds Novafrica CrudeMix Africa
Harambee Africa Botswana unplugged Financial Insights Zambia
O Económico Digilogic Africa Web3Africa

Subscribe to FurtherAfrica

Enter your email address to receive new articles on your email.

Join 100,773 other subscribers.
FurtherAfrica

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

FurtherAfrica is a FurtherMarkets Limited platform

  • Countries
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
 

Loading Comments...