Telephone unique subscriptions in Africa now 557m

. Egypt, Nigeria, S’ Africa account for a third of the population
. Mobile ecosystem adds $150b to SSA’s economy

More than half a billion people across Africa are now subscribed to mobile services as the continent continues to migrate rapidly to mobile broadband networks.

Specifically, the Global System for Mobile telecommunications Association, at the on-going GSMA 360 conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, said there are now 557 million unique subscribers in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Angola, Ghana, among others.

Unique subscription, according to the GSMA refers to users who have subscribed to mobile services at the end of the period, excluding M2M.

It stressed that subscribers differ from connections such that a unique user can have multiple connections, which has been the case in Nigeria.

GSMA, which presented findings of a recently conducted study titled: ‘The Mobile Economy: Africa 2016’, at the conference, said there has been an increase in contribution of Africa’s mobile industry to the regional economy, including employment and public funding.

Director General, GSMA, Mats Granryd, said more than half a billion people across Africa are now subscribed to a mobile network, providing them not just with connectivity but a gateway to a range of other essential services in areas such as digital identity, healthcare and financial services.

“The rapid move to mobile broadband networks is also unlocking new opportunities for consumers, businesses and governments, growing an ecosystem that last year added more than $150 billion in value to Africa’s economy”, he said.

According to the report, network investments and smartphones are driving mobile broadband adoption.

The report found out that there were 557 million unique mobile subscribers across Africa at the end of 2015, equivalent to 46 per cent of the continent’s population, making the continent the second largest – but least penetrated – mobile market in the world.

Africa’s three largest markets – Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa – together accounted for around a third of the total subscriber base. The number of unique mobile subscribers is forecast to reach 725 million by 2020, accounting for 54 per cent of the expected population by this point.

GSMA said African mobile subscribers are rapidly migrating to mobile broadband networks and services, a result of ongoing network rollouts and the increasing availability of affordable mobile broadband devices and tariffs.

According to it, mobile broadband (3G/4G) accounted for just over a quarter of total connections at the end of 2015, but is expected to account for almost two-thirds by 2020.

“By mid-2016, there were 72 live 4G networks in 32 countries across Africa, half of which have launched in the last two years. Meanwhile, the number of smartphone connections in Africa is forecast to more than triple over the next five years, rising from 226 million in 2015 to 720 million by 2020”, the report noted.

The association said mobile’s contribution to African GDP, jobs and public funding would increase, adding that the use of mobile technologies and services across Africa generated $153 billion in economic value last year, equivalent to 6.7 per cent of the region’s GDP.

This contribution is expected to increase to $214 billion by 2020 (7.6 per cent of expected GDP) as countries in Africa continue to benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services. Africa’s mobile ecosystem also supported 3.8 million jobs in 2015 and made a $17 billion contribution to the public sector via general taxation.

The number of jobs supported is forecast to rise to 4.5 million by 2020, while the tax contribution is expected to increase to $20.5 billion.

The report also explained how mobile is powering innovation and entrepreneurship across Africa. It noted that there are now approximately 310 active technology hubs across the region, including 180 accelerators or incubators. Mobile operators are supporting this ecosystem by opening up APIs to third-party developers in areas such as messaging, billing, location and mobile money, which has allowed start-ups to scale quickly.

Mobile technology is also playing a central role in addressing many of the social challenges in Africa, including the ability to provide citizens with official identities, tackling the ‘digital divide’ by enabling access to the mobile internet, and delivering financial inclusion via mobile money services.