African mobile phone growth to surge - study

Harare - Growth prospects for sub-Saharan
Africa’s mobile phone market are significant as
over half the region's population does not
have access to a mobile phone.
This is according to a Frost & Sullivan study
called ‘Sub Saharan African Mobile End-user
Trends'.
"The mobile penetration in the region is
expected to increase from 52% in 2012 to 79%
2020. Overall, in terms of mobile phone
usage, SSA will be the fastest growing region
globally over the next seven years," said the
researchers.
The study has noted that because “more than
half of the population (in the region) has no
access to a mobile phone” it offers immense
opportunities for telecommunication
companies, device and module vendors as
well as application providers.
“The introduction of affordable smartphones,
specifically designed for the African market,
has improved the market scenario,” said Frost
& Sullivan Information & Communication
Technologies Industry Analyst Joanita Roos on
Wednesday.
"Mobile broadband connections are now
anticipated to quadruple from its 2012 figure
to reach 160 million in 2016," Roos added.
The projected increase in take-up of mobile
broadband internet in the region has been
attributed to the increased coverage of 3G
networks, the rise of local content, and the
development of a range of new applications.

The study added that mobile broadband is
expected to be a significant driver for the
telecommunications industry in the next five
years as fixed lines throughout Africa are
constrained by costs, coverage and reliability.
“As mobile devices start to gain popularity in
SSA, other related end-user trends are also
beginning to surface,” added Roos.
“For example, the large unbanked population
and rural environment in the region is fuelling
the use of mobile financial services,” Roos
said.
As a result of this trend, manufacturers have
started “creating sustainable business models
to leverage broadband in the mobile financial
services market”. Others have also started
developing low cost smartphones aimed
specifically for the regional market
Africa’s booming population, most of which
will still be youthful during the next five years
is expected to “drive the demand for mobile
devices and services,” says the study.
Moreover, enterprise customers will likely start
to demand more “advanced mobile services,
such as fixed mobile convergence (FMC)”.
Naila Govan-Vassen, an ICT industry analyst
said last month that "communication markets
(in Africa) will become more liberal, especially
in countries where governments understand
the correlation between ICT development and
economic growth".
“New market entrants will emerge in Africa,
which will either tap into unexplored markets
(for example, the case of Movitel in
Mozambique) or strategically acquire a
company. The mergers and acquisitions are
taking place between and within MNOs, state
owned operators, system integrators and
managed services,” he added.