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Mobile technologies and services contributed $240 billion to Africa’s economy in 2025, equivalent to 7.8% of GDP, according to the GSMA’s Mobile Economy Africa 2026 report. The sector also supported approximately 13 million jobs and generated $45 billion in public revenues, underlining the growing role of mobile connectivity in powering economic growth, innovation, and digital transformation across the continent.
The report finds that Africa’s mobile industry is entering a new phase of development. Having spent the last decade expanding connectivity, operators are increasingly focused on unlocking the full value of digital networks for consumers, businesses, and governments.
Across the continent, operators are evolving beyond their traditional role as connectivity providers to become digital transformation partners, deploying artificial intelligence (AI), expanding digital services, and opening network capabilities to developers through standardised APIs. According to GSMA Intelligence research, 79% of operators in Africa identify becoming a digital transformation partner as a primary enterprise objective.
Africa’s Digital Future: Opportunities Ahead
By 2030, mobile technologies and services are expected to contribute $290 billion to Africa’s economy as digital adoption deepens, and connectivity continues to support productivity, innovation, and economic development across the region. Today, Africa’s digital challenge has shifted from expanding network coverage to ensuring people, businesses, and governments can fully benefit from the connectivity already in place.
Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, said: “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. Realising this opportunity will require continued investment, policies that encourage innovation, and a shared commitment to ensuring that everyone can benefit from the opportunities digital technologies create. We also call on the broader technology supply chain – including those who manufacture the components that make devices possible – to reflect on how their own success is tied to a connected world, and to join us in closing the usage gap and making that world more accessible and affordable for all.”
Across the continent, operators are increasingly deploying AI to improve network performance, strengthen customer experiences, and support new digital services. However, Africa is home to more than 30% of the world’s languages, while today’s leading AI models remain predominantly trained on English and other high-resource languages. Through initiatives such as the GSMA’s “AI language models in Africa, by Africa, for Africa” programme, industry stakeholders are working to strengthen the data, compute, talent, and policy foundations needed for African-led AI development.
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