Mobile technologies and services contributed $240 billion to Africa’s economy in 2025, accounting for 7.8% of the continent’s GDP, according to the GSMA Mobile Economy Africa 2026 report. The sector also supported around 13 million jobs and generated $45 billion in public revenues, highlighting its growing importance as a driver of economic activity across Africa.
The report projects that the contribution of mobile technologies and services will rise to $290 billion by 2030 as digital adoption accelerates and connectivity continues to boost productivity, innovation and economic development.
To accelerate digital adoption and unlock the next phase of economic growth, the GSMA is urging policymakers to implement measures that encourage investment, improve affordability and expand access to digital services. Mobile operators across the continent are expected to invest more than $76 billion in network infrastructure between 2024 and 2030. The report also pointed to evidence from several African markets showing that reducing taxes on devices and digital services can help increase adoption and broaden participation in the digital economy.
Furthermore, Policy decisions are becoming critical in determining how much Africa benefits from the next wave of digital transformation. According to the report, factors such as investment incentives, spectrum availability, affordability initiatives and regulatory certainty will shape the pace of innovation, infrastructure deployment and digital inclusion across the continent.
According to the the report, Africa’s greatest digital challenge is no longer network coverage but rather getting people online, which reveals that while mobile broadband networks now cover most of the continent’s population, approximately 63% of Africans living within coverage areas are still not using mobile internet. In contrast, only 9% of the population remains outside mobile broadband coverage.
Additionally, the report has identified affordability as the single biggest barrier to mobile internet adoption across Africa, alongside digital skills gaps and other social challenges. And is calling for greater efforts to improve access to affordable devices, strengthen digital literacy and create a more inclusive digital ecosystem capable of bringing millions more people online.
As the economic impact of mobile connectivity grows, the industry is entering a new phase of development. The report also revealed that the focus is shifting from expanding network coverage to ensuring that individuals, businesses and governments can maximize the benefits of existing digital infrastructure.
However, Telecom operators are increasingly moving beyond their traditional role as connectivity providers and positioning themselves as partners in digital transformation. This includes investing in artificial intelligence, expanding digital services and making network capabilities available to developers through standardized application programming interfaces (APIs).
According to GSMA Intelligence, 79% of mobile operators in Africa identify becoming a digital transformation partner as a key enterprise objective, reflecting a broader shift in strategy as the continent’s digital economy continues to evolve.
“Africa’s mobile industry is entering a new phase of development. Having connected millions of people and businesses over the last decade, the focus is increasingly shifting towards unlocking greater value through AI, digital services and new forms of innovation,” said Vivek Badrinath, Director General of GSMA.
Vivek also noted that unlocking the full potential of the digital economy will require sustained investment, innovation-friendly policies and collaboration across the technology ecosystem and is calling on the broader technology supply chain, including manufacturers of device components, to support efforts aimed at narrowing the digital usage gap and improving the accessibility and affordability of digital technologies for underserved populations.
The report also highlighted the growing adoption of artificial intelligence by mobile operators, who are increasingly deploying AI to optimize network performance, enhance customer experiences and support new digital services. However, despite Africa being home to more than 30% of the world’s languages, most leading AI models continue to be trained primarily on English and other high-resource languages.
To address this gap, industry stakeholders are supporting initiatives such as the GSMA’s “AI language models in Africa, by Africa, for Africa” programme, which seeks to strengthen the data, computing capacity, talent and policy frameworks needed to drive African-led AI innovation.
Meanwhile, momentum is building behind GSMA Open Gateway, an initiative that enables mobile operators to provide standardized network APIs to developers and enterprises. The platform is helping to support new digital services while enhancing fraud prevention, identity verification and digital trust across sectors including financial services, e-commerce and digital government.
Go to TECHTRENDSKE.co.ke for more tech and business news from the African continent and across the world.
Follow us on WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, and Facebook, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out on any future updates. Send tips to editorial@techtrendsmedia.com
