The African telephone market has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) predicting that the number of mobile phone users will reach 500 million by 2025.

According to ITU telecommunications data, Africa has become the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, with mobile phone usage on the continent increasing by 65 percent annually, almost twice as fast as the Asian market.

The latest research data from Canalys found that 19.2 million mobile phones were shipped to African countries in the fourth quarter of 2023, representing 24% year-on-year growth.

Analysts have linked the growing demand for phones on the continent to the growing market for digital services, thriving social media and the introduction of easy purchasing methods by some fintech and business agents such as the Buy now, pay later Options.

According to online sources, these are some African countries with the highest number of mobile phone users:

Nigeria currently leads African countries with a mobile phone penetration of 85%.

According to GSMA InformationThere were 118.6 million mobile phone subscriptions in South Africa at the beginning of 2024. This figure corresponds to approximately 195.4% of the South African population.

The population of South Africa was 60.69 million in January 2024.

The country’s mobile penetration was estimated at 95%, while the number of active mobile connections was reported at 110.5 million. Data portal.

In January 2024, the population of Egypt was 113.6 million.

At the beginning of 2024, there were 77.39 million mobile phone connections in Ethiopia, representing 60.4% of the total population.

The population of Ethiopia during this period was 128.1 million.

As of January 2024, there were 66.04 million mobile phone subscriptions in Kenya, representing 118.7% of the total population.

In January 2024, the population of Kenya was 55.65 million.