Nigeria to Become Largest Mobile Phone Market in Africa

November 17, 2006 – 1:22 pm

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Nigeria is not exactly a rich country but it is the most populous country in Africa. However, in terms of number of mobile phones, Nigeria is not the market leader in Africa. South Africa has the largest market in mobile phone at this moment. There are basically two reasons behind this. South Africa has a sizable population and rich economy compared to many countries in the continent.

Nigeria is supposed surpass South Africa in terms of number of mobile phones after just one year. People’s Daily Online reported:

“According to the information released by INforma Telecom & Media’s World Cellular Information Service, mobile subscriptions in Nigeria will exceed 30 million by the end of 2006.

It forecasted that there will be 44 million users in Nigeria and 40 million in South Africa at the end of 2007.

Nigeria is expected to be added 13 million subscriptions over the year of 2006, an increase of 44 percent compared to the net additions recorded over 2005.”

Right now, Nigeria has nearly 25 million mobile phone users. That is not bad against a population of 130.2 million. The key challenge is to expand mobile phone network in the rural areas. I often feel that Africa is really the next big market for mobile phone companies. Most people here do not own a mobile phone own yet.

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