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Tanzania recorded the highest percentage change in Internet subscriptions in 2014
Tanzania's Internet subscriptions surged from 9.31 million in 2013 to 39.3 million as of June 2024, reflecting an average annual growth of 2.72 million. Apart from slower growth in 2018 and 2020, with 148,000 and 284,000 new subscriptions, respectively, the East African nation has consistently expanded its digital reach. Notably, mobile wireless subscriptions accounted for a staggering 99.75% of all Internet subscriptions in Tanzania.

Safaricom has grown its subscriber base by an average of 2.2m yearly since 2008
Safaricom has maintained the largest share of telecom subscribers in the Kenya over the years. From 2008 to 2024, it has expanded its subscriber base from 10.2 million to 44.7 million, reflecting an average annual growth of 2.2 million subscribers. This consistent growth underscores Safaricom's strong market position and effective business strategy in Kenya's telecom sector.

MTN Nigeria recorded its highest subscriber base (92.7m) in Feb 2023

MTN Nigeria has dominated the country's telecommunications market over the years, accounting for the largest market share. All four operators, apart from 9mobile, recorded a significant increase in their subscriber base between May 2014 and March 2024.

Nigeria: Northern states led internet subscriber growth from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024
Internet subscribers in Nigeria increased by 4.3% from 157.6m in March 2023 to 164.4m as of March 2024, an addition of 6.817m new subscribers. Lagos State has the largest share of active internet subscribers in Nigeria, but Nasarawa gained the most new subscribers in one year. assarawa (604k) got the most new subscribers between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, followed by Niger (456k) and Kano (387k). Benue (368k) and Kwara (315k) also saw impressive subscriber growth. Bauchi, Taraba, Katsina, Adamawa, and Kogi completed the top ten.

Mobile Connectivity Index; Only four African countries exceeded the global average in 2023
A country with strong infrastructure, affordable services, and high digital literacy, enabling everyone to use fast and reliable mobile internet will have a perfect score (100) on the GSMA's Mobile Connectivity Index 2023. South Africa leads in Africa with 69.53. Globally, Singapore is first, with a score of 93.7, setting the benchmark for mobile internet adoption. Only four African countries — South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Egypt — surpassed the global average score.
Tunisia, Ghana, and Nigeria scored below the global average. The Mobile Connectivity Index analysed measured 173 countries' mobile internet adoption from 2014-2023, normalising indicators to a 0-100 scale for consistency. The factors assessed include infrastructure, affordability, digital literacy, and policy frameworks.
 

South Sudan tops the list of African countries with the most breached online accounts since 2004
Surfshark's data reveals that 17.2b online accounts have been compromised globally since 2004, with African countries accounting for 250.7m (1.45%). South Sudan has the highest number of breached online accounts in Africa, with over 89 million compromised accounts. South Africa and Egypt follow with 0.2% and 0.13% of the global figure, respectively. Nigeria ranks fourth with 19.3 million breaches. Although Africa's share of global breaches is relatively low, the potential harm is significant. Recently, unauthorised websites reportedly sold Nigerians' data, including NIN, BVN, and driver's licenses, for as little as ₦100. These breaches pose serious privacy, financial security, and national safety risks, calling our attention to the urgent need for robust data protection measures.

MTN Group: The share of revenue for data almost doubled in a decade, with the share of voice revenue dropping by almost 50%

MTN Group's share of voice revenue has steadily declined since 2014, falling from 71% to 36.6% in 2023. On the other hand, data services' share went from 18.6% to 37% in the same period.

MTN Group: Revenue from data almost tripled in a decade
MTN Group's revenue of ZAR104.3b from voice services in 2014 dropped to ZAR81b in 2023, with data services revenue almost tripling within the same period. With increasing digital inclusion, data service is definitely the future for telcos.

MTN Nigeria’s data revenue grew by an average of 47% over the years, unlike voice, which did 11.09%
MTN Nigeria’s voice and data revenue has been on an upward trend since 2018 but data recorded a higher year-on-year growth rate. Data grew at an average of 47.5% in five years, while voice, which had not seen an increase up to 10% in the years under review, grew to 27.1% in 2022.

Nigeria: The telecoms industry’s contribution to the GDP has hit the 15% mark twice in 5 years

Over the past few years, the information and communications technology industry has been one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing industries. In Q4 2023, it was among the top three contributors to the real GDP with 14%. Between 2015 and 2023, its quarterly GDP hit 15% twice.

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