Africa: an untapped opportunity for Middle Eastern startups

Cellular penetration in Africa is growing at a rate of around 4.2 percent – a rate unequalled anywhere else in the world. In terms of mobile internet adoption, the picture is similar; it’s expected that the number of smartphone users in Nigeria will rise from the current figure of around six million to more than 35 million by 2017.

The numbers are part of the following in-depth report investigating the state of the African telecoms market, just released by TA Telecom.

With the Arab market becoming more saturated everyday, those unmatched growth rates of technology adoption and usage in Africa reveal why expanding south, into African markets, might be a huge untapped opportunity for startups in the Middle East.

The report indicates that the majority of mobile phone connections in Africa – 62.7% – are still basic 2G voice and SMS services; only 11% of customers on the continent have access to a 3G connection. Further, data services including SMS have been growing at a very healthy 67% over the last few years.

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Africa: an untapped opportunity for Middle Eastern startups