Nigeria’s mobile subscribers to reach 201m by 2025 – Report

A report released on Friday by the leading e-commerce company in Nigeria, Jumia, has forecast a 28 million increase in the total number of mobile subscribers in the country in the next six years. Tagged “Nigeria Mobile Report 2019,” the report was released today at the corporate headquarters of Jumia Nigeria in Lagos. Presenting the […]

A report released on Friday by the leading e-commerce company in Nigeria, Jumia, has forecast a 28 million increase in the total number of mobile subscribers in the country in the next six years.

Tagged “Nigeria Mobile Report 2019,” the report was released today at the corporate headquarters of Jumia Nigeria in Lagos.

Presenting the report, Jumia Nigeria’s head of Vendor Operations and Experience, Omolola Onasanya, said Nigeria currently has over 172 million mobile subscribers according to the NCC figures, adding that it may rises to over 201 million by 2025.

“There were over 5 billion unique mobile subscribers globally in 2018 adding that 60% of the connection was through smartphones. Internet users peaked at 3.6 billion; that is, almost half of the world population had mobile internet access.

“Some 700 million new mobile subscribers from various countries across the world will push the total number of global mobile subscribers to 6 billion between now and 2025.

“Nigeria has been identified among these countries, with others being India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, USA, and Brazil.

“It is predicted that Nigeria will contribute 4% of the estimated 700 million new global mobile subscribers, making it the only country in Africa marked with a significant contribution to increasing mobile penetration in the world.

“By this quota, it is expected that 28 million new mobile subscribers will emerge from Nigeria between 2019 and 2025,” she said.

Also speaking, the company’s head of Growth and Partnership, Stanislaus Martins, said there were over 172 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria, accounting to a penetration rate of 87% of the population.

“This figure represented a 6.4% growth increase, compared to 162 million subscribers in 2017.

“Over 112 million Nigerians had access to the internet in 2018, representing 56% of the population. This accounted for an increase of 14.32% year-on-year from 2017.”

Responding to questions from journalists, Jumia Nigeria’s head of Public Relations and Communications, Olukayode Kolawole, said the availability of affordable phones still remains the major driver of smartphone penetration in the country.

He said: “At the end of 2018, there were over 36 million smartphone users, representing a penetration of 18.37%. While the number of smartphone users might have increased year-on-year, its penetration is still very insignificant.

“Internet connectivity and the availability of affordable smartphones continue to drive an increasing uptake of social media networks.

“The number of active social media users rose from 17 million in 2017 to 24 million at the end of 2018. This represents a 12% penetration of the country’s population.”

The report noted that Asian phone brands consistently enjoy massive patronage because of their Africa-specific strategy of introducing lower price point smartphones into the Nigerian market.

According to the report, in 2018, Fero, Samsung, Nokia, Infinix and Tecno remained the customers’ favourites and the top-selling mobile brands on Jumia’s website.

“It is interesting that a one-time king of mobile phone, Nokia is gradually returning to the limelight, riding on its durability claim. Infinix continues to lead the pack, year on year.

“The average price of smartphones continues on a downward trajectory, as it dipped to US$ 95 in 2018, from US$ 117 in 2016, and US$ 216 in 2014.

“This development is laudable as again, the major driver of this trend is attributed to the influx of Asian brands specifically targeted for the Nigerian market,” the report stated.

It further added: “In 2018, Chrome continued to lead the pack among the four major browsers Jumia customers use to access the website, taking up 43%.

“The reason for this is simple: Chrome has higher system requirements, which make customers’ browsing experience faster. 18% of Jumia customers accessing the website did so via Android Webview. Opera Mini on the other hand, is a lighter browser in terms of data usage and is popular among new mobile internet users who have lower incomes and can’t afford costly internet data packs; and took up 16%. Other browsers used, accounted for 23%.

“Notably, 57% of Jumia customers visited the website via mobile web, 28% via the mobile App and 15% via the Desktop in 2018.

“There is however, an increasing migration from shopping on the mobile web to the Jumia App. This shift, although gradual, is attributed to the fact that the App consumes less data, is more convenient and more affordable due to the frequent discounts offered. It is a commendable development, and a higher conversion is expected in 2019.

“Nigeria’s largest commercial city, Lagos, had the highest number of mobile phone orders in 2018, followed by Abuja, Rivers (Port Harcourt), Edo, and Delta. The mobile phone category still remains one of the top selling categories on the Jumia website.”

Daily Trust reports that the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in its most recent report released in March 2019 said Nigeria has a total of 114,725,357 mobile (GSM) internet data subscribers via the four major telecommunication companies namely Airtel, 9mobile, Globacom, and MTN Nigeria as at February 28, 2019. Out of this, 97% access social media through their mobile devices.

It also added that as at same February 2019, Nigeria has a total of 173,276,528 mobile (GSM) lines (subscribers) in use.