February 26, 2020

Are African mobile markets insulated from economic slumps?

Are African mobile markets insulated from economic slumps? At times, that certainly seems to be the case. Take Nigeria. Since 2016, the Nigerian economy has averaged ~1% annual growth, its worst stretch of performance for at least a decade. Over that same period, the country’s mobile industry growth has averaged between 10% and 13% annually. In South Africa, another beacon of dismal economic performance, mobile sector growth has been running ahead of revenue by 2-3 percentage points.