Nigeria, others to share $154b mobile economy cash

Nigeria and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to share $154billion revenue from mobile economy.


The mobile economy is also expected to create 400,000 jobs, plus additional 2.8million informal jobs in other parts of the economy in two years, according to the Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) report.

According to the leading industry body, 613million subscribers are expected on the continent while smartphone penetration will move up from 49 per cent to 61 per cent during the projected year of 2025.

It said only 41million fifth generation (5G) technology connections will be achieved while there will be nearly 100million additional mobile subscribers in which Nigeria and Ethiopia will account for almost a third of these.

By 2025, 5G will account for four per cent of total connections in Africa compared to the global average of 25 per cent. Smartphones will account for 61per cent of total connections, on average. While smartphones penetration was 44 per cent in 2021, it’s projected to reach 64 per cent in Nigeria; 61 per cent in Tanzania; 48 per cent in Ethiopia; 67per cent in Cote d’Ivoire; and 68 per cent in Kenya. South Africa has the highest projection of 76 per cent.

Gaming is a popular pastime for people of all ages. According to GSMA Intelligence research, 58 per cent of the adult population across 10 major countries analysed play digital games at least once a week. “There are several factors driving the growth in gaming: advances in streaming technology and the proliferation of cloud/edge infrastructure; the on-demand content consumption habits of millennials; the shift in gaming consumption from consoles to mobile devices, with smartphones.

“The most popular gaming device; and improvements in mobile and fixed networks in terms of speed, reliability, latency and coverage, all of which are key capabilities for an enhanced gaming experience, ” GSMA noted.

In Africa, the number of gamers has more than doubled in the last five years to 186 million people, according to a study commissioned by game analytics company Newzoo and Carry1st, a South African gaming platform. This was largely being driven by mobile gaming –

95 per cent of gamers across the region play on a smartphone or tablet, as opposed to consoles and computers. Within the region, GSMA noted, South Africa has the highest number of gamers at 24 million people, representing 40 per cent of its population, followed by Ghana-27 per cent; Nigeria-23 per cent; Kenya-22 per cent; and Ethiopia-13 per cent.

On 5G adoption, the report said at the end of September last year, 214 mobile operators in 81 markets globally had launched commercial 5G services.