Half of Kenyans own smartphones, new report shows
NEWS
By Frankline Sunday
| Dec 17th 2021 | 2 min read
NEWS

The penetration levels of feature phones and smartphones stood at 67.9 per cent and 53.4 per cent. [Courtesy]
One out of every two Kenyans now owns a smartphone, according to new industry data that casts a spotlight on the country’s accelerating adoption of digital products and services.
The Communications Authority of Kenya’s (CA) sector statistics report covering the first quarter of 2021/2022 financial year indicates that the number of active mobile subscriptions in the country stood at 64.9 million as of September 30 this year.
“As of 30th September 2021, the number of mobile phone devices accessing mobile networks stood at 59.0 million, out of which 33.0 million were feature phones and 26.0 million smartphones,” said CA in the report.
“The penetration levels of feature phones and smartphones stood at 67.9 per cent and 53.4 per cent respectively.”
READ MORE
This puts Kenya among the top countries in Africa in smartphone penetration. The report now provides official data on the development indicator that had been the topic of much speculation in the sector.
In 2018, the PewResearch Center’s global attitudes survey put Kenya’s smartphone penetration at 30 per cent, the fourth-beggest in Africa behind South Africa (51 per cent), Ghana (35 per cent), Senegal (34 per cent) and Nigeria (32 per cent).
According to the regulator, digital payments accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, remained popular among subscribers, with customer to business payments hitting Sh1.2 trillion in September this year. This was a 21 per cent increase from Sh988 billion recorded in June this year.
The value of government to citizens’ transfers, however, dropped 29 per cent from Sh2.6billion in the fourth quarter of last year to Sh1.8 billion.
RELATED VIDEOS
Our lives have deteriorated, say 74pc of Kenyans
The economic situation saw more than half of the households skip meals, forgo medical care and accumulate school fees arrears.China rejected Kenya's request for Sh32.8b debt moratorium
China is Kenya’s largest bilateral lender with an outstanding debt of Sh692 billion.MOST READ

- Curtains fall on one of East Africa's oldest fast food restaurants
ENTERPRISE
- The making of a Sh2b healthcare start-up
ENTERPRISE
- Safaricom senior officer Kris Senanu quits telco
BUSINESS
By Betty Njeru
- Managing Gen Z at the workplace
WORK LIFE
By Tony Mbaya
- Nyeri hoteliers face lean times as iconic White Rhino faces auction
BUSINESS