The number of mobile subscriptions in Africa reached 1 billion toward the end of 2017, and 1.04 billion at the end of June 2018, a population penetration rate of about 82%.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest mobile market in terms of subscriptions, with 150.3 million mobile subscriptions at end-June 2018, followed by South Africa with 99 million, Egypt with 98.8 million, Ethiopia with 64 million, and Algeria with 46.2 million (see Figure 2).
At the end of June 2018, 43.5% of mobile subscriptions on the continent were based on mobile broadband connections (3G or more advanced devices and networks). This is considerably below the global average of 70.7%.
Africa is substantially behind most of the rest of the world in terms of fixed broadband development. Fixed broadband household penetration on the continent was just 7.3% at end-June 2018, the lowest rate of all the major world regions (see Figure 3). Only Central & Southern Asia has a similar rate, of 7.5%. In all other major regions, fixed broadband household penetration is substantially higher.
On a simple demographic basis, Africa represents a huge growth opportunity. The United Nations (UN) expects the population on the continent to double in the coming 30 years or so, from 1.26 billion in 2017 to 2.53 billion in 2050. Africa will account for more than half of the world's population growth between 2017 and 2050.
Less happily, the World Bank says that although the number of people living in extreme poverty (on $1.90 a day or less) around the world has declined sharply, from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 736 million in 2015, the number living in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa is on the rise. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for more than half of the world's extreme poor in 2015, and the region will account for 90% by 2030, according to the World Bank.
