Africa to have 800 million mobile subscriptions by 2015 – Standard Bank

A report by South Africa based Standard Bank Group has estimated that mobile subscriptions in Africa will reach 800 million by 2015.

Simon Freemantle, an economist and author of the report said Africa had about 500 million mobile subscriptions in 2010, up from 15 million in 2000 and will hit 800 million by 2015.

He forecast that over the next five years East and Central Africa will enjoy the highest mobile subscription growth rates in the world, with three quarters of the increase expected to come from Uganda, Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Kenya and Ghana.

Freemantle said the five trends driving Africa’s economic growth include a larger, younger and more affluent population, Africa’s transformational urban swell, technology, the dormant resources potential and the deepening financial sector.