By 2028, number of mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by 17% to 1.1 billion
March 18th 2024
The number of mobile phone subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 1.1 billion by 2028, up from 940 million in 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of 3%. This is what we learn from a report published in November 2023 by the Swedish technology company Ericsson, which focuses on the state and prospects of mobile telephony in the world.
Titled “Ericsson Mobility Report 2023”, the report explains that this growth will be favored in particular by avant-garde regulatory measures to develop network coverage, as well as substantial investments from telecoms companies and governments. Growth is also expected to be supported by a positive economic outlook in the region.
According to Ericsson, the acceleration in mobile adoption comes in a context where ” connectivity has become a fundamental need for voice and data communications, as well as for services such as banking, whose penetration is traditionally weak .
These Ericsson forecasts are in line with those of the Global Association of Telephone Operators and Manufacturers (GSMA), which indicated in October 2023 that the number of mobile connections in sub-Saharan Africa should reach 1.36 billion by 2030. with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%. It should be noted that the same organization recorded in 2022 a total of 980 million mobile connections in sub-Saharan Africa.
Towards an increase in the number of people connected in sub-Saharan Africa
The increase in mobile phone subscriptions could lead to an increase in the number of people using connectivity services in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, the term “ subscription ” refers to each of the active SIM cards, even in cases where a person has more than one.
The GSMA estimates that the number of unique mobile subscribers in the region is expected to reach 692 million in 2030, compared to 489 million in 2022. The penetration rate will then increase from 43% to 50%.
Mobile can accelerate financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa
The expected increase in mobile phone subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa represents much more than just an expansion of communications services. It offers opportunities to improve the living conditions of the region’s populations.
Thus, the adoption of mobile can accelerate the banking of populations in sub-Saharan Africa thanks to mobile money. People with a mobile phone can access mobile money services even without internet access through the Unstructured Supplementary Service (USSD).
This is also why the penetration of mobile telephony is cited as an important factor for the adoption of mobile money in sub-Saharan Africa. The region had 763 million MoMo accounts in 2022, according to the GSMA’s “State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023.” This represents a considerable increase from 56.9 million accounts recorded in 2012.
In its report “Global Findex Database 2021”, the World Bank confirms that “ mobile money has become an important enabler of financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for women, because it boosts the ownership of accounts and their use through mobile payments, savings and borrowing ”.
Source: Agency EcoFin
Back