Mobile Technologies Added $240 Billion to Africa’s Economy in 2025

Mobile technologies and services contributed $240 billion to Africa’s economy in 2025, according to the GSMA, the global industry association representing mobile network operators and the wider mobile ecosystem. AI, digital services and network APIs are becoming more important, while affordability remains the main barrier to adoption.

Mobile Sector Accounts for 7.8% of African GDP

Mobile technologies and services generated economic value equivalent to 7.8% of Africa’s GDP in 2025, according to the GSMA’s Mobile Economy Africa 2026 report.

The mobile ecosystem also supported approximately 13 million jobs and generated $45 billion in public revenues. The figures underline the growing economic role of mobile connectivity across private-sector activity, public services and digital infrastructure.

The GSMA expects the sector’s economic contribution to reach $290 billion by 2030. This growth is forecast to be supported by wider digital adoption, continued network investment and the use of mobile services in business and government processes.

Mobile operators are expected to invest more than $76 billion in network infrastructure between 2024 and 2030. At the same time, 5G is forecast to account for 21% of mobile connections in Africa by 2030.

Operators Expand Beyond Connectivity

The report identifies a shift in the strategic role of African mobile operators. After a decade focused largely on extending network coverage, operators are increasingly developing services that go beyond basic connectivity.

According to GSMA Intelligence, 79% of operators in Africa consider becoming a digital transformation partner a primary enterprise objective. Their activities increasingly include artificial intelligence, digital platforms and access to network functions through standardized application programming interfaces.

For system integrators and solution providers, this development may broaden the technical basis for applications combining mobile connectivity with identity services, fraud prevention, data processing and sector-specific digital platforms.

Standardized APIs Support New Digital Services

The report also points to growing momentum behind GSMA Open Gateway. The initiative enables mobile operators to expose selected network capabilities to developers and enterprises through standardized APIs.

These interfaces can support applications such as identity verification, fraud detection and digital trust. Relevant sectors include financial services, e-commerce and digital government.

For developers and integrators working across several markets, standardized interfaces can reduce the need to create separate technical integrations for individual mobile networks. This may simplify the deployment of services across national and operator boundaries.

AI Deployment Faces Language Constraints

African mobile operators are increasingly using artificial intelligence to improve network performance, support customer service and develop digital services.

However, the report identifies limitations in the availability of training data for African languages. Africa is home to more than 30% of the world’s languages, while many leading AI models are trained primarily on English and other languages with extensive digital resources.

The GSMA’s programme for AI language models developed in and for Africa therefore focuses on strengthening the required data, computing capacity, skills and policy foundations for locally led AI development.

Usage Gap Exceeds Coverage Gap

The report identifies mobile internet adoption, rather than network availability, as Africa’s main connectivity challenge.

Approximately 63% of the population lives within mobile broadband coverage but does not use mobile internet. By comparison, 9% of the population remains outside mobile broadband coverage.

Affordability is described as the largest barrier to adoption, followed by limited digital skills and other social factors. The GSMA highlights lower device and service costs, digital education and more inclusive digital services as central measures for reducing this usage gap.

Taxation, spectrum availability, investment incentives and regulatory certainty will also influence the pace of infrastructure deployment and digital adoption. According to the report, evidence from several African markets indicates that reducing taxes on devices and digital services can help increase access.

For network operators, technology providers, system integrators and public-sector organizations, the findings show that infrastructure expansion alone will not determine the economic impact of mobile connectivity. Affordable devices, digital skills and relevant services must develop alongside network capacity.

Want to dive deeper? Read the full report and further details from the GSMA: https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-technologies-contributed-240-billion-to-africas-economy-in-2025-as-the-continent-enters-a-new-phase-of-digital-transformation/