Digital Lifescapes

A positive economic growth outlook for Africa is strongly dependent on improved institutional performance and better governance. GDP growth in Africa in 2015 is forecast at 4.4 percent. Nigeria will be the strongest performer at 6.7 percent growth in 2015, but heavily dependent on natural resources and vulnerable to global demand. Telecom services, and mobile internet access in particular, could help boost the economy. That said, the Nigerian telecommunications market is expected to generate $10.9 billion in 2019, that's up from a total of $9.2 billion in 2013, according to the latest market study by Pyramid Research. Although growth in the market will be slightly reduced in 2015, as the market recovers from the large number of fixed-line disconnections, long-term growth of the telecommunications sector will not to be affected. Nigerian Telecom Market Outlook The telecoms market will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2 percent over the next five years, with ...

Mobile communication networks have been instrumental in enabling basic economic development at the community and individual level within the African continent. At the end of 2Q-2013, the total mobile phone subscriptions in Africa reached 863 million -- that's a growth of 9.3 percent year-on-year (YoY), which is more than other regions around the world. Africa’s growth trajectory will continue up to 2018, with a CAGR of 6.6 percent, to reach 1.25 billion subscriptions. "What’s more, due to the lower comparative 3G penetration of 13.8 percent in Africa at the end of 2013, we forecast that Africa 3G subscriptions will grow rapidly from 114 million in 2013 to 210 million by 2015," said Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research . While the vast majority of African countries are still in the process of extending and enhancing their 3G networks, some major African markets -- such as South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria -- have launched 4G networks, notching up 0.2 million ...