17 May 2008
analysis
Washington, DC — Growth in Africa's mobile sector has defied all predictions.
Africa remains the region with the highest annual growth rate in mobile subscribers and added no less than 65 million new subscribers during 2007. At the beginning of 2008, there were over a quarter of a billion mobile subscribers on the continent. Mobile penetration has risen from just one in 50 people at the beginning of this century to almost one third of the population today." - International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
While Africa still lags behind other continents in telecommunications, the growth in recent years in mobile phones and internet connectivity has been extraordinary. Six countries - South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Kenya - have more than 10 million mobile phones each, with South Africa and Nigeria each topping 40 million mobile phones. Seven countries -- Seychelles, Gabon, South Africa, Tunisia, Botswana, Mauritius, and Libya, have more than 70 mobile phones for each 100 persons, ranging from 89 percent in the Seychelles to 73 percent in Libya.
Internet connections - particularly broadband connections - are less advanced. But ITU reports for 2007 show ten countries with more than a million internet users each, ranging from 10 million in Nigeria to 1.4 million in Zimbabwe (see below for the full list of the top 25). In terms of internet users per 100 population, Seychelles ranks at the top with more than 35 internet users per 100, Nine other countries also have more than 10 internet users per hundred, ranging from Mauritius with 25 to Algeria and Zimbabwe with a little over 10 each (see below for full list of the top 25).
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains press releases from the International Telecommunications Union Telecom Africa meeting just concluded in Cairo, as well as a note on Egyptian government efforts to block internet access to critics of the government. It also contains lists of the top 25 African countries by total number of mobile phones, mobile phones per 100 population, total number of internet users, and internet users per 100 population, and a link to additional statistics on-line at the ITU website (http://www.itu.int/ITUTELECOM). For a summary of ICT indicators for Africa for 2007, see http://tinyurl.com/3gvdkl
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on African information and communications technology, and a custom search of top web sites on ICT issues in Africa, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/ictexp.php
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Top 25 African Countries
Total Number of Mobile Phones, in Thousands
42,300 South Africa 40,396 Nigeria 30,047 Egypt 21,446 Algeria 20,029 Morocco 11,440 Kenya 8,252 Tanzania 7,842 Tunisia 7,604 Ghana 7,464 Sudan 7,050 Cote d'Ivoire 6,592 D.R. Congo 4,536 Cameroon 4,500 Libya 4,195 Uganda 4,123 Senegal 3,307 Angola 3,300 Mozambique 2,639 Zambia 2,483 Mali 2,218 Madagascar 1,895 Benin 1,427 Botswana
Total for continent 264,475,000
For more statistics, see http://tinyurl.com/3gvdkl
Top 25 African Countries
Mobile phones per 100 population
89.23 Seychelles 87.86 Gabon 87.08 South Africa 75.94 Tunisia 75.84 Botswana 74.19 Mauritius 73.05 Libya 64.15 Morocco 63.34 Algeria 46.58 Gambia 43.35 Eq. Guinea 41.62 Mauritania 39.80 Egypt 38.58 Namibia 36.6 Cote d'Ivoire 35.40 Congo 33.31 Senegal 33.29 Swaziland 32.39 Ghana 30.48 Kenya 27.9 Cape Verde 27.28 Nigeria 24.45 Cameroon
Average for continent: 27.48 per 100
For more statistics, see http://tinyurl.com/3gvdkl
Top 25 African Countries
Total Number of Internet Users, in thousands
10,000 Nigeria 8,620 Egypt 7,300 Morocco 5,100 South Africa 3,500 Algeria 2,770.3 Kenya 1,722.2 Tunisia 1,500 Sudan 1,395 Malawi 1,351 Zimbabwe 820 Senegal 650 Ghana 500 Zambia 384.3 Tanzania 370 Cameroon 320 Mauritius 320 Togo 300 Cote d'Ivoire 291 Ethiopia 260 Libya 230.4 D.R. Congo 178 Mozambique 150 Benin
Total for continent: 50,406,400
For more statistics, see http://tinyurl.com/3gvdkl
Top 25 African Countries
Total Number of Internet Users, per 100 Population
35.67 Seychelles 25.48 Mauritius 23.38 Morocco 16.68 Tunisia 14.59 São Tomé and Príncipe 11.42 Egypt 10.75 South Africa 10.34 Algeria 10.12 Zimbabwe 7.89 Kenya 6.75 Nigeria 6.62 Senegal 6.48 Uganda 6.36 Cape Verde 5.87 Gambia 5.76 Gabon 5.07 Togo 4.87 Namibia 4.55 Botswana 4.36 Libya 4.19 Zambia 4.08 Swaziland 3.89 Sudan
Average for continent: 5.34 per hundred
For more statistics, see http://tinyurl.com/3gvdkl
ITU Telecom Africa 2008 opens in Cairo
Africa: A Continent on the Move
Press Release
International Telecommunication Union
http://www.itu.int/ITUTELECOM/
Sanjay Acharya, Chief, Media Relations and Public Information ITU, Tel: +41 22 730 6135, E-mail sanjay.acharya@itu.int
or Fernando Lagra¤a, Executive Manager, ITU TELECOM, Tel: +41 22 730 5094, E-mail fernando.lagrana@itu.int
Cairo, 12 May 2008 - President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt inaugurated Telecom Africa 2008, which opened to the public today in Cairo, Egypt. A major showcase for cutting edge information and communication technologies (ICT) that includes an industry exhibition, ITU Telecom Africa presents a unique forum for brainstorming and an important networking platform for both governments and the private sector to chart the future course of the ICT industry.
Some 200 companies from 45 countries, including several from outside the African region, are exhibiting products, applications and services. Around 70 heads of international companies and 50 ministers along with key regulators and investment bodies are attending the event from 12 to 15 May. ITU Telecom Africa has already attracted over 5000 participants from 93 countries, marking a record since the event was opened to countries from outside the region, and includes 600 Forum participants and 200 media.
While the exhibition underscores the latest developments in the ICT market, the Forum sessions offer both regional and global insights on Africa's position in the ICT sector, its unique market drivers, and the host of factors critical in sustaining its most effective enabling environment. The 30 Forum sessions cover topics such as public-private partnerships, entrepreneurial success stories, capacity building and cybersecurity. Over 150 speakers will participate in the Forum sessions, which also include the Youth Forum and the Telecommunication Development Symposium.
Africa at a Crossroads
A highlight of the formal opening was the Press launch of ITU's regional report, "African Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008: At a Crossroads". Following booming growth in the mobile telephony sector - which saw 65 million new subscribers in 2007 - and an encouraging investment climate spurring economic development in the region, Africa is a continent on the move: the theme for ITU Telecom Africa 2008.
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