Youth surge to drive mobile broadband uptake in Africa

Access to mobile broadband in Sub-Saharan Africa has been rising steadily, with a current penetration rate of around 35 percent, but a youth surge is expected to drive mobile broadband uptake in Africa even further, a new Ericson Mobility Report shows.

The report released on Tuesday said currently an average South African subscriber spends three hours on social media every day, thanks to broadband.

While in Nigeria, there are over 7 million active daily users of Facebook, 97 percent of whom access the service on mobile devices.

Reads the report in part: “Sub-Saharan Africa is home to one of the world’s youngest populations. With 57 percent of the population below the age of 15 in 2016, the expectation is that the behaviour of this segment will be a key driver in the increasing adoption of mobile services.

“For example, in Nigeria, university students are a group most likely to spend time online, as well as access the Internet via hand-held devices.”

The report said affordability is also driving the increase in mobile broadband uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Alongside declining data prices, which is stimulating traffic, there is an increase in the accessibility of smartphones due to lower prices as a result of subsidies and access to purchase plans.

It is, therefore, expected that there will be a greater increase of low-cost smart devices in the region.