Kenya home to seven per cent of region’s mobile phone subscribers

By Macharia Kamau

Kenya’s mobile telephony industry now accounts for seven per cent of mobile phone subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report, released last week, says Kenya has the third highest number of subscribers, after Nigeria and South Africa that respectively account for 26 per cent and 19 per cent of mobile cellular subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kenya had 17.4 million mobile phone subscribers by end of June this year, translating to 45.7 per cent penetration.

Tanzania and Ghana have also contributed a significant share of subscribers, with five per cent each, and Cote d’Ivoire joins the fray with four per cent.

The report titled ‘Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009 – Africa,’ otes that the average annual growth rate of 47 per cent in Africa’s ICT sector has boosted the distribution in usage of ICT services. At the turn of the decade, South Africa alone accounted for 74 per cent of the mobile phones on the continent.

"Growth in Nigeria has been very strong. Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire have also accounted for the change in distribution of mobile connections," said the report.

The report, by the United Nation’s telecoms arm, also notes mobile telephony growth over the last five years has defied all predictions and lauds Africa as the region with the highest mobile growth rate.

Take the lead

"By the end of 2008, Africa had 246 million mobile subscriptions. Mobile penetration has risen from just five per cent in 2003 to well over 30 per cent today," said the report.

"The high ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines and the high mobile cellular growth rate suggest that Africa has taken the lead in the shift from fixed to mobile telephony, a trend that can be observed worldwide."

Despite rapid growth, however, Africa’s ICT penetration levels in 2009 are still far behind the rest of the world, and very few African countries reach ICT levels comparable to global averages. According to ITU, less than five per cent of Africans use the Internet, and fixed and mobile broadband penetration levels are negligible.

Both end-users and industry players still face significant challenges in increasing ICT uptake levels.

"These include the lack of full liberalisation of markets and the limited availability of infrastructure. In addition, prices for ICT services remain very high, compared to income levels, and broadband Internet services are out of the reach of most Africans," said ITU in the report.