The population of Africa, world’s second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia has now officially crossed the 1 billion mark but much as this presents both challenges and opportunities, the telecommunications sector is basking in the expected ripple effect on the continent’s wireless market, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
According a recent report published by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), in association with the United States Agency for International Development (USaid), Africa’s total grew by 24 million per year.
The report said that by 2050, Africa’s youth population is expected to reach 349 million, capturing 29 per cent of the global youth population, against 12per cent today.
Julien Blin, chief executive officer and principal analyst at JBB Research, a research and consulting company focusing on the wireless space said that these statistics point to the tremendous growth potential of the African wireless market, which currently has 300 million wireless subscribers.
“That market remains essentially untapped with a low penetration rate (less than 50 percent versus more than 100 percent in some developed countries such as Italy, or close to 90 percent in the US). The African youth population has now become a driving force for the African wireless industry.”Blin said .
According to him, for instance, in Nigeria where the wireless market is booming (67 million wireless subs), the median age is 19 years old.
He said that “teens and young adults tend to overindex in terms of mobile data spending and usage. As the average revenue per user continues to increase in the coming years and as carriers continue to upgrade to faster networks and improve their coverage (especially in rural areas), the African wireless market is set to experience strong growth in the coming years”
Blin said that “as the average revenue per user (ARPU) increases in the coming years and as carriers upgrade to faster networks and improve coverage (especially in rural areas), the African wireless market is set to experience strong growth”
Many foreign wireless companies (especially those in the US) do not see the African continent as a strategic market. As it gains momentum, and as wireless coverage and infrastructure improve driving African wireless growth, these companies may realize, too late, their mistake” Blin added.
Blin is is frequently quoted by leading and newswires like The New York Times, WSJ.com, Business Week and so on and he specializes in 3G/4G mobile apps/services, network technologies ( that is LTE, WiMAX), the U.S, Europe, and emerging markets (e.g. Africa, Middle East, South America, and China).