An Epidemic of Cellular Expansion

Imagine growing up in a poverty-stricken town, in a world that feels like 200 years ago. You wake up and walk two miles for freshwater and a few eggs for your breakfast. You have no idea what is happening in the world around you with no access to the daily news or even the weather, let alone Wikipedia and books. But, one day, a fifty dollar phone is put into your hands and suddenly you now have access to the entire internet. You finally have the tools to learn about what's happening worldwide, you can read every article ever written, view every painting ever painted, stream any video you want, and with endless possibilities, there’s a chance to access education to finally level the playing field with the rest of the world. This is exactly what is starting to happen in Africa as a result of a boom in technology and mobile phones. They are skipping the phases we went through, gaining access to desktop computers and then evolving to laptops and then finally to mobile phones. Africa is skipping these steps and jumping right to the cut, a device to surf the entire internet, right in the palm of your hand.

People are finally getting access to previously untapped information and this is starting to bring about a new age in Africa with many positives that can improve education and quality of life as a result of mobile devices, which puts an entire computer in a small pocket. Africa is finally being bought online at a rapid and unprecedented pace. 

Mobile phones are starting to touch every corner of Africa with monumental rates of expansion. In Sub-Saharan Africa, in 2018, there were around 456 million citizens that had access to the internet via cellular devices. This number is going to increase to almost half of the population of Africa gaining access to and owning their own smartphone by 2025 (GSMA). These numbers show how rapidly a 6% increase in mobile smartphone penetration can bring the majority of a continent online. Africa is starting to be brought online and access to a mobile phone is starting to become more and more useful and essential to their everyday needs. Twenty years ago, access to information was a major problem in Africa. Ten years from now, everyone will have access to this once scarce information and the question now will be whether you use Facebook or Google. 

Not only is access to mobile devices growing, but the number of services and applications available to Africans is growing even faster. With the rapid penetration of mobile phones in Africa, people are starting to rely more and more on constant access to the internet to manage essential tasks daily. Messaging apps like Whatsapp are immensely popular but you also see examples of people in Ghana, Africa managing their bank account solely via their phone, they use it to withdraw and deposit cash and even to transfer money by texting (Bloomberg). This shows how Africans are starting to use their new smartphones to their advantage and are getting the most out of their phones. These applications are also getting easier to access and African’s are starting to use similar apps such as WeChat in China, where on one platform you can text, surf the web, and distribute money.

Almost all of Africa will finally become online in the near future and will follow a very similar trend to what India has recently just gone through. This will most likely result in a large boost to Africa’s economy as more and more citizens will finally start receiving the education they need and become internet literate, and start to engage with the world economy as they are given access to a much, much wider world. 

Citations

“Cell Phones in Africa: Communication Lifeline.” Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research Center, 30 Dec. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/04/15/cell-phones-in-africa-communication-lifeline/.

Beres, Damon. “In Parts Of Africa, Cell Phones Are Everywhere And Landlines Barely Exist.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 21 Apr. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/africa-phone-study_n_7081868.

Dzawu, Moses Mozart. “Mobile Phones Are Replacing Bank Accounts in Africa.” News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 13 Aug. 2019, www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/mobile-phones-replacing-bank-accounts-africa-190813101049937.html.

Elliott, Roxana. “Mobile Phone Penetration Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.” GeoPoll, GeoPoll, 8 July 2019, www.geopoll.com/blog/mobile-phone-penetration-africa/.

“The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2019.” The Mobile Economy, www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/sub-saharan-africa/.