$ 51 billion, this will be the annual contribution of the mobile sector to the West African economy by 2022, reports the latest report of GSMA made public this April 11 in Abidjan during the meeting “Mobile 360 - West Africa “.
Entitled “The Mobile Economy: West Africa 2018”, the paper notes that the mobile ecosystem has reported, at the end of 2017, $ 37 billion in revenue in the region, or 6.5% of GDP, a figure that will have to grow by nearly 38% to “51 billion dollars” in 5 years, ie in 2022.
72 million additional subscribers in 2025
This strong expected growth can be explained by the significant margin of maneuver available to operators in the region. It is estimated that nearly half of the western population is not yet connected to the mobile. “At the end of 2017, there were 176 million unique mobile subscribers in the West Africa sub-region (which includes the 15 ECOWAS members, ed). This equates to a penetration rate of 47% of the population of the region, against only 28% at the beginning of the decade, “the report said.
Also, “72 million additional mobile subscribers” are expected in West Africa by 2025, which will increase the subscriber penetration rate to 54%. An evolution explained by the African population dynamics, “more than 40% of the population in many sub-Saharan African countries is under the age of 16”.
94% broadband in 2025
At the same time, the sector is engaged in a transition to high-speed mobile telephony under the effect of “the expansion of 3G and 4G networks, lower data tariffs and the growing accessibility of smartphones.” 3G already covers the “two thirds” of the regional population, and the adoption of 4G is growing rapidly.
“3G and 4G networks together accounted for 36% of mobile connections in West Africa in 2017 and are expected to reach 94% of the total by 2025,” the report said. And over the next two years, local operators have planned to spend $ 8 billion to “build and update their networks.”
GSMA is an association that brings together nearly 800 operators and manufacturers in the mobile sector in 220 countries. The organization brings together the most important mobile players from West and Central Africa on April 11 and 12 during the “Mobile 360 Series – West Africa” event to discuss digitization efforts implemented in all economic sectors of the ECOWAS region.
