Mobile Penetration

Sub-saharan Africa’s mobile phone subscribers are expected to surpass 500 million by the end of 2020, said a report launched on July 11 by a global association of mobile operators.

The GSM Association (GSMA) forecasts the number of mobile subscribers in Subsaharan Africa will grow from 420 million at the end of 2016 to 535 million in 2020, making it the fastest growing region in the world over this period.

“Mobiles are offering sustainable solutions that address the lack of access to services such as health, education, electricity, clean water and financial services, which still affect large swathes of the population,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.

Mobile technologies and services generated $110 billion of economic value in Sub-saharan Africa in 2016, equivalent to 7.7 percent of regional GDP, a figure expected to grow to $142 billion (8.6 percent of GDP) by 2020.