Africa’ s Mobile Subscriptions to Hit 310m by 2023

Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscriptions will expand by 47 per cent from 30 million in 2017 to 310 million by 2023 in Nigeria and the entire Sub-Saharan Africa, latest Ericsson Mobility Report, has said.

Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden

The report also announced that mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to grow by six per cent, between 2017 and 2023, from 700 million mobile subscriptions in 2017 to 990 million subscriptions by 2023.

Moreover, mobile traffic in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49 per cent while mobile subscriptions for the total MEA region are expected to grow at four per cent CAGR between 2017 and 2023, from 1.59 billion in 2017 to 2.03 billion by 2023.

The report, which was accessed during the week, said this equates to three per cent growth in the Middle East and North Africa, from 890 million mobile subscriptions to 1.04 billion subscriptions between 2017 and 2023.

On the other hand, mobile broadband subscriptions are forecast to grow by 15 per cent for the MEA region from 820 million in 2017 to 1.85 billion by 2023. This is broken down into a 13 per cent increase for the Middle East and North Africa from 460 million mobile broadband subscriptions in 2017 to 980 million by 2023.

Similarly, Sub-Saharan Africa mobile broadband subscriptions are forecast to grow by 16 per cent from 350 million in 2017 to 880 million by 2023.

When it comes to LTE subscriptions, the MEA region is expected to grow by 29 per cent, from 190 million to 860 million by 2023. This means that LTE subscriptions in the Middle East and North Africa will grow by 23 per cent, from 160 million in 2017 to 570 million by 2023.

For the Sub-Saharan Africa region, LTE subscriptions will expand by 47 per cent from 30 million in 2017 to 310 million by 2023.

Head of Ericsson MEA Rafiah Ibrahim said: “Total mobile traffic for the region is forecasted to grow by around 49 per cent annually between 2017 and 2023. This rapid growth is seeing operators increasingly exploring methods of optimizing their networks with more capacity and coverage.”