Africa is judiciously positioned to be the next big mobile market, enviously eyed by global investors for her enormous growth opportunities. 2019 is undeniably the year to prioritize investments in Africa’s mobile market, to leverage this monetary opportunity.
According to a Mobile Report for Africa released by Jumia, Africa’s leading e-commerce platform, the continent’s real output growth is expected to reach 4.1% by the end of 2019; from an estimated 3.5% in 2018. The growth is expected as a result of improvement in macroeconomic conditions in the continent.
The Mobile Economy contributed USD 110 billion to Africa’s GDP (7% of the total GDP) in 2017 and is expected to generate more than $150 billion (approximately 7.9% of GDP) by 2022. The mobile technologies and services industry further supported 3 million jobs in 2017.
Other factors that have driven much of Africa’s growth in mobile subscriptions include more affordable smartphones, declining mobile data plans, the efficiency brought about by smartphones including online shopping/purchases, mobile payments as well as searching for information.
Nevertheless, the growth of mobile will remain uneven, as the 54 African countries record varying performances, both in their respective mobile markets and the entire economies.
Booming number of smartphones in Africa
In 2018, Africa had 255 million smartphone connections, which is equivalent to 36% of the total population. This is against a 444 million mobile subscriber base in the continent by 2017. By 2025, there are expected to be approximately 690 million smartphones in Sub-Saharan Africa, equating to a connection of about 66%.
However, the rise of affordable entry-level devices from price-focused brands remain a key driver of smartphone adoption in Africa. Among the top mobile brands on Jumia in 2018 included Infinix (which has been thee top brand for the last three years), Samsung, Xiaomi, Tecno and Fero.
Besides, while affordability of mobile data in Africa is improving across the board, the cost remains high, with the price of 1GB averaging around 8.76% relative to monthly income in 2017.
Credit: Josephine Wawira