Africa counts 500 million mobile subscribers

The number of active mobile subscriptions in Africa crossed the 500 million mark in Q310, to reach 506 million at end-September, according to research by Informa Telecoms & Media. At end-Q310, Africa accounted for 10 per cent of the world’s mobile subscriptions and was one of the world’s fastest-growing regions – with the subscription numbers increasing 18 per cent over the year to September – as a result of the still low mobile penetration rate on the continent as well as demand for new services, such as mobile Internet access.

Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts that by 2015, there will be 265 million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa, a significant increase from the current figure of about 12 million, and accounting for 31.5 per cent of the total of 842 million mobile subscriptions that the continent will have in five years’ time. There will be almost 360 million users of mobile-money services on the continent by 2014.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is also its largest mobile market, accounting for 16 per cent of the continent’s mobile subscriptions. Egypt and South Africa are the second and third largest mobile markets on the continent. Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and Zimbabwe together accounted for 48 per cent of the 54 million net additions to Africa’s mobile subscription market over the nine months to end-September.

Over the coming five years, the strongest growth rates in mobile subscriptions are expected to be recorded mainly in East and Central African markets, with Ethiopia, DR Congo, Eritrea and Madagascar forecast to see mobile subscription numbers increase by more than 100 per cent by 2015.