GSMA publishes 2020 The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa report

GSMA released its annual report on The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2020 which revealed some estimated figures for the mobile economy in 2025. The report expects 475 million people in the region to be mobile Internet users and 27% of connections to on 4G and 3% on 5G. It also predicts that by 2024 the mobile industry contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) will be US$184 billion. In order to boost the digital infrastructure and keep people connected, the report makes three key calls for policy actions to spur investment in much needed infrastructure and improve consumers’ ability to access digital services. (a) Rethink fiscal policy on mobile connectivity: Policymakers need to focus efforts on improving the  affordability of mobile connectivity to enhance access to digital services and build resilient digital infrastructure in the post-COVID-19 era. (b) Facilitate mobile infrastructure deployment: Policymakers should be motivated by the crisis to recalibrate regulations to facilitate mobile infrastructure deployment. (c) Prioritise digitisation of person-to-government transactions (P2G) as part of post- COVID -19 measures.