http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/africa/2013/11/13/393512/Fastest-growing.htm
CAPE TOWN--Sub-Saharan Africa is set to remain the world's fastest growing mobile market in the coming years, an industry report said Monday.
According to operators body the GSM Association, the region's number of unique subscribers stood at 253 million in June this year and will hit 346 million by 2017.
“Despite the astonishing progress of the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, the biggest impact of mobile in Africa is yet to come,” the report said.
“Roughly two thirds of the population are still without a mobile subscription, leaving much room for growth.”
The region's number of mobile users have grown by 18 percent annually over the past five years but penetration is the lowest in the world at close to 31 percent.
“This highlights the long-term growth potential of the region,” said the GSMA.
Penetration is 66 percent in the continent's economic powerhouse South Africa and has reached 30 percent in Nigeria, which has the largest population in Africa, according to 2012 figures.
The global average is nearly one in two users, and four out of five in the European Union.
But while growth rates are slowing across the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, the region is set to remain at almost twice the global average.
The low number of people who have a cellphone meant more operators had to invest more to reach the unconnected, said Peter Lyons, GSMA director of spectrum policy for Africa and the Middle East.
CAPE TOWN--Sub-Saharan Africa is set to remain the world's fastest growing mobile market in the coming years, an industry report said Monday.
According to operators body the GSM Association, the region's number of unique subscribers stood at 253 million in June this year and will hit 346 million by 2017.
“Despite the astonishing progress of the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, the biggest impact of mobile in Africa is yet to come,” the report said.
“Roughly two thirds of the population are still without a mobile subscription, leaving much room for growth.”
The region's number of mobile users have grown by 18 percent annually over the past five years but penetration is the lowest in the world at close to 31 percent.
“This highlights the long-term growth potential of the region,” said the GSMA.
Penetration is 66 percent in the continent's economic powerhouse South Africa and has reached 30 percent in Nigeria, which has the largest population in Africa, according to 2012 figures.
The global average is nearly one in two users, and four out of five in the European Union.
But while growth rates are slowing across the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, the region is set to remain at almost twice the global average.
The low number of people who have a cellphone meant more operators had to invest more to reach the unconnected, said Peter Lyons, GSMA director of spectrum policy for Africa and the Middle East.