Africa calling: mobile phone revolution to transform democracies

Explosive growth in mobile broadband use across the continent is improving transparency and giving a voice to citizens

Mobile phones will account for almost one-tenth of African GDP by the end of the decade, as mobile broadband connections triple in five years, underlining how the explosive growth in the telecoms industry is having a major economic, social and political impact on the continent.

Market analysts Ovum expect mobile broadband connections, which stood at 147m in 2014, to account for a substantial share of the mobile market, forecasting a rise to 76% at the end of 2020, up from just 17% in 2014.