- Global mobile phone penetration is at 85% of the world’s population
- There are currently 5.98 billion mobile phone subscriptions
- Africa has about 644 Mn subscribers (about 11%)
- LTE deployments in Africa are quickly gaining momentum (11 million customers predicted by 2015)
- Smartphone penetration rates in Africa are now at a whopping 17 to 19 percent (that’s almost 1 in 5!)
- The rest are split between either “feature” phones or basic “dumb” phones (albeit with SMS capability)
- Commerce in Africa is dependant on mobile. Micro-entrepreneurship covers some 90 percent of the employment base and about 65 percent of the continental GDP
- Some commentators are speculating that Africa will become the first post-PC region of the world
- There are currently 5 major international cables in place providing bandwidth to the African continent
- Despite the global recession and one of the lowest per-capita income levels in the world, BRICS counties and others are investing in Africa ahead of other markets
- The following African states (terminology used in the report) have mobile phone penetration rates higher than 100%!!!
- Seychelles
- Botswana
- South Africa
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Reunion-Mayotte
- Gabon
the African Mobile Phone Market:
