Sub-Saharan Africa Leads Mobile Growth, Impact –GSMA

The GSMA yesterday published its latest comprehensive study of the socio-economic impact of the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report, “Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Economy 2013”, developed by GSMA Intelligence, reveals that mobile contributes over six per cent of the region’s GDP, higher than any other comparable region globally, and this is forecast to rise to over eight per cent by 2020 1.

Last year, the mobile ecosystem directly supported 3.3 million jobs and contributed US $21 billion to public funding in the region, including licence fees. By 2020, mobile is set to double its economic effect, employing 6.6 million men and women in the region and contributing US $42 billion to public funding.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s unique mobile subscriber base has grown by 18 per cent annually over the last five years, making it the fastest growing region globally. By mid-2013, there were 253 million unique mobile subscribers and 502 million connection.
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With many countries in the region seeing fixed line penetration rates of less than five per cent, mobile has emerged as the main medium for accessing the internet across Sub-Saharan Africa. While 2G connections still dominate in the region, 3G and 4G networks are gaining scale and smartphone ownership is on the rise.

With unique subscriber penetration rates still less than 33 per cent, this opens up a major opportunity for growth in the next five years.

“Despite the significant impact of the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, even greater opportunities are ahead. Beyond further growth for basic voice services, the region is starting to see an explosion in the uptake of mobile data. However, a short-term focus by some countries on generating high spectrum fees and maximising tax revenue risks constraining the potential of the mobile Internet,” said Tom Phillips, chief regulatory officer, GSMA.

Realising the longer-term potential of the mobile sector depends on a transparent and enabling policy environment for the industry itself and for associated verticals.

Operators and investors need clarity in order to fund the substantial investment needed to extend coverage to remote areas and meet the growing demand for higher speed connectivity.