Everybody has been entwined in the global wires of mobile phone technology. The technology has brought tremendous influence in virtually every society; transformation in communication, social networking, research, business advert, conferencing, etc. Mobile technology has proven to hold the most market prospects in Africa with particular reference to West Africa given the sheer size of the region’s population.
Taking a look at Nigeria, the public is embracing mobile telephony, and those who are left out are working towards joining the league of mobile phone users. At inception in Nigeria in the year 2001, mobile telecommunication industry was considered a prospective competitor with
petroleum if duly harnessed. The mobile phone network providers in Nigeria achieved an amazing boost in the number of subscribers moving from 45,000 lines in 2002 to 78.8 million subscribers in year 2010 attaining 50%, and making Nigeria the third biggest subscriber base globally. Arising from competition among the major network providers in Nigeria– MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and Etisalat– the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveals that about 88 million mobile phones were in use in October 2011, with some Nigerians owning two to three mobile phones.
Ghana is also riding the wave of mobile technology. The first cellular phone service in the state came into existence in 1992 with the initiative of Mobitel. That year, 19,000 Ghanaians became owners of mobile phones. On the expansion of mobile phone usage in Ghana, in the year 1998, mobile phone users grew to 43,000. At mid 1999 it grew to 68,000, and in year 2000 it grew to 132,000. At the moment, mobile phone is fastest growing businesses in Ghana and great number of Ghanaians use them. Audience Scapes Ghana survey confirms that in year 2010, 88% of Ghanaians were already using mobile phones. Mobile phone network business in Ghana is so huge and six major network providers MTN, Tigo, Vodafone, Zain and Kasapa, and Globacom are harnessing the potential. Mobile phone growth in Ghana has been projected to reach 90% of Ghana entire population which is about 23 million at the end of year 2012.
In Senegal the trend remains the same, mobile phone use is on the high. As at 2009, Senegal already had over 6.9 million active lines, and at the moment, the country’s mobile market has been experiencing a significant expansion and this has made mobile phone use in Senegal to be about 3.6 million. The Gambia has over 1,433,000 mobile phones in the country. Niger has the second highest yearly growth pace of mobile phone usage in West Africa, and the fourth highest in Africa.
Mobile phone has created numerous jobs for the unemployed in most cities in West Africa. In Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, operators of mobile phones maintenance centres employ many youths. Some of the youths that work on mobile repair make an average of N7, 000 (45 US dollars) daily. Waheed, a mobile phone repair expert, has trained many youths who are making living from mobile phone repairs. The telephony has emerged as one of the major providers of jobs in Africa. In year 2010 about 5.4 million persons gained employment directly or indirectly in the mobile industry.
Africa is the world’s second leading mobile market and the most rapidly expanding mobile market globally. In year 2011, the continent already had 649 million mobile phones in use and the subscriber bases grow at about 20% yearly; it is projected to hit over 735 million subscribers by the end of year 2012. (MTN, which is a regional mobile operator in West Africa, projects mobile phone usage in the region to be about 80% by 2012 in 15 West African states markets.) The mobile industry in Africa at the moment makes around US$56 billion or 3.5% of entire GDP, with mobile operators exclusively bring in US$49 billion.
West African countries are giving better room for the telecoms industry to grow in the region. In Nigeria, the government has put in place a policy to make telecom operators not to encounter difficulties in siting their facilities and also protect the facilities from vandalization. The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, disclosed this at the first National Telecom Subscribers Summit in Lagos. The policy also seeks to put in place uniform charges by the operators.
Looking at the huge receptiveness of mobile phone technology across West Africa, the region is likely to be the leading mobile phone market in the shortest possible time. This is based on the fact that at the moment, over 150 million West Africans have a mobile phone in a population of 300 million. Nigeria alone has a large market for telecoms industry; with the country’s population of about 170 million, about 89 million persons own mobile phone. This shows that since half of the population in West Africa now own a mobile phone and the crave among those who do not own to own one and those who own to own a higher version of smart phones, by the year 2018 all population in the region is likely to own a mobile phone. This holds a great prospect for those who may wish to invest in telecommunication industry in the region.
Audu Liberty Oseni and Ugo Azubike
