There are predictions that mobile internet use in Africa will increase twenty-fold in the next five years and on these premises, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson has said the internet will contribute $300 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria and those of other countries in the Sub-Sahara Africa.
The Minister, who disclosed this on Friday while delivering an address at DEMO Africa 2014, an initiative to connect African startups to the global ecosystem and push technology in Africa to greater heights held in Lagos, said the federal government has committed $9 million (N1.4 billion) as seed capital to fund software innovation development in the country to be managed by EchoVC.
She further noted that with the Demo Africa 2014, the country is on its way to making its first investment in a number of Nigerian/African tech start-ups. Quoting a report, Johnson said that mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa are forecast to exceed 635 million by the end of this year, and predicted to rise to around 930 million by the end of 2019.
The Minister disclosed that the increase in the number of mobile subscribers has propelled increases in mobile internet use in Africa and “we are considered to be at the cusp of a mobile Internet revolution.” According to her, “Predictions are that mobile Internet use in Africa will increase 20-fold in the next five years. This is double the estimated growth rate in the rest of the world.”
She stated that lower priced devices, smartphones and tablets in particular; increase investment in network infrastructure and increase in availability of spectrum for mobile broadband, were among the factors that will fuel this growth. One report that highlights this potential predicts that the internet can contribute up to 300 billion US dollars to Africa’s GDP by 2025; and this is from an estimated $18 billion in 2013.
Johnson submitted that this translates directly to opportunities to generate income, to create wealth, to create jobs, new business opportunities, economic expansion and so on.
