Cellphones rapidly shrinking digital divide in Africa

The growing availability of household surveys and census data in Africa is uncovering the true nature of phone access across the continent. This demand side data offers a more realistic snapshot than the subscription-based data that is typically used to highlight cellphone access. Drawing on the survey data, it emerges that seven in ten Sub-Saharan African households had a mobile phone in 2014. This is a massive increase from a decade earlier when only around one in five homes had a cellphone.

A number of African countries even have a higher level of mobile household penetration than North America where rates were 85 and 89 in Canada and the United States in 2013.  In many more African nations, over 90% of urban households have a telephone suggesting that the barriers to connecting the remaining households are more about lack of electricity and cellphone coverage rather than affordability.

Sub-Saharan Africa, Households with mobile phone (%), 2014 or latest
	Latest	Year
South Africa	96	2014
Morocco	94	2014
Senegal	94	2014
Tunisia	93	2012
Mauritius	92	2014
Gabon	92	2012
Gambia	91	2013
Algeria	91	2012
Egypt	90	2014
Cape Verde	89	2014
Namibia	89	2013
Botswana	87	2013
Burkina Faso	86	2014
Ghana	85	2014
Congo	82	2012
Côte d'Ivoire	81	2012
Mauritania	77	2013
Nigeria	75	2013
Mali	74	2013
Togo	74	2014
Comoros	73	2012
Benin	72	2012
Uganda	68	2014
Cameroon	67	2011
Equatorial Guinea	67	2011
Zambia	66	2014
Chad	66	2013
Guinea	65	2012
Liberia	65	2013
Zimbabwe	62	2011
Tanzania	61	2012
Djibouti	60	2012
Rwanda	56	2013
Sierra Leone	55	2013
Angola	52	2011
Niger	50	2012
Malawi	49	2014
Congo, D.R.	39	2014
Mozambique	34	2011
Burundi	32	2012
Madagascar	25	2013
Ethiopia	25	2011
Source: ictDATA.org adapted from national household surveys.