Sub-Saharan Africa region grows faster than any other region; the CAGR – Compound Annual Growth Rate – of 6.1% over the 5 years to 2020 is around 50% higher than the global average. The region also holds 20 million unique mobile subscribers equivalent to a penetration rate of 43% and it’s expected to have more than half a billion unique mobile subscribers by 2020.

Read the main highlights below about the mobile economy in Sub-Saharan Africa:

• The total number of SIM connections in the Sub-Saharan Africa region reached 731 million in 2016 and will rise to nearly 1 B by 2020.
• Smartphone connections in the region have doubled over the past 2 years to nearly 200 M, totaled for a quarter of mobile connections in 2016.
• There will be smartphones growth of 300 M from the end of 2016 and it will rise to more than 500 M by 2020.
• 90% of smartphone users in Nigeria, South Africa & Tanzania use at least one IP messaging service, such as WhatsApp, BBM or Facebook Messenger, regularly.
• Women in Sub-Saharan Africa were 17% less likely than men to own a mobile phone in 2016.
• The total mobile revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa reached $40 billion in 2016, an increase of 3.9% in the prior year.
• Mobile broadband connections are expected to increase from 33% in 2016 to 60% by 2020.
• There were 97 live 4G networks in 39 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa by March 2017; covering 28% of the region’s population.
• 4G networks in South Africa now reaches 3-quarters of the population. The country also has a mobile broadband penetration rate of more than 70%.