Supported by a population of about 103 million, Egypt has one of the largest economies in Africa. The country serves as a bridge between Africa and other parts of the world, particularly the Middle East, making it a key player in the MENA markets. It is this unique position and ongoing reforms that have helped Egypt grow consistently economically. One of Egypt’s growth drivers is an ongoing digital transformation, which we will touch on in this article.

Mobile Penetration Rate in Egypt

Mobile phone services were first introduced in Egypt in 1996. By 2000, about 1.98% of the population were subscribed to mobile phone services. Since then, mobile penetration has grown in leaps and bounds. For the year 2020, the Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced that 98.8% of Egyptian households and 95% of individuals owned mobile phones.

According to Datareportal, there were 95.75 million mobile connections in Egypt in January 2021, equivalent to 92.7% of the total population and a 2.9% increase compared to the previous year.

However, we must note that mobile penetration is essentially a grey area in most countries due to a lack of data on unique mobile subscribers. A recent GeoPoll survey on mobile phone usage in multiple countries in Africa and Asia showed that 92% of the recipients owned multiple-SIM phones.

Mobile Internet

Access to the internet is fast becoming an indispensable basic need for most people in the world. With fixed internet connections very low, especially in developing nations, mobile internet has risen to bridge the gap. Over half the world’s population now use mobile internet, with three-quarters of all mobile internet users living in low- and middle-income countries, according to the GSMA.

In Egypt, too, mobile internet usage has been increasing in relevance. Data reports from the government show a steady rise in mobile internet usage in Egypt between 2019 and 2020, increasing from 39 million in the last quarter of 2019 to 52.4 million in the same period in 2020. As COVID-19 affected Egyptians’ day-to-day lives in 2020, the government subsidized mobile internet costs and offered free access to students.

This reliance on mobile internet has, naturally, pushed up the penetration of smartphones in Egypt. International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reports that the smartphone market grew 10.6% year-on-year in 2020.

GeoPoll’s Mobile Research in Egypt

GeoPoll has the capabilities to conduct research projects via mobile phones in Egypt. Our platform and partnerships with mobile network operators in Egypt allow us to run surveys via SMS, voice calls (CATI or IVR), in-person (CAPI), mobile web, mobile application, and mobile-based focus groups.

To learn more about our research capabilities in Egypt and beyond, contact us today.

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SIM Card Penetration Rate

SIM card penetration is the total number of SIM card connections in a country as a percentage of the total population. Looking at the statistics from DataReportal, there are 187.9 million mobile or SIM connections in Nigeria in January 2021. These mobile connections are spread across the four major mobile service providers in the country.

Comparing these figures with the number of mobile connections in January 2020, we find there has been a 10% increase in mobile connections in the past year, with a 17 million additional mobile connections being added from January 2020 to January 2021.  Another statistic from The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) shows that there are over 198 million mobile (GSM) active lines in Nigeria in July 2020.

However, gauging mobile phone ownership in Nigeria by using mobile or SIM connections is often not very accurate. This is because many mobile phone users in Nigeria use dual SIM phones which allow them to use multiple SIM cards or mobile connections within one mobile device. A report by OpenSignal shows that 66% of phones in Nigeria’s mobile market are dual SIM phones. The same report ranks Nigeria as the country with the highest numbers of dual SIM phone users—closely followed by Bangladesh and Tanzania.

Dual SIM phones are high in demand in Nigeria’s mobile market because they allow users to juggle between two network providers on the same mobile phone. Users can easily switch their connection to get the best rates for voice calls, text, and data without having to carry two mobile phones. Because one person may own multiple SIM cards, using mobile connections or SIM connections as a metric can artificially inflate the actual penetration rate of mobile phones within a population.

Unique Subscriber Penetration Rate

Unique subscribers refer to the number of individuals who own a phone in a country. While Nigeria’s mobile penetration rate is lower than developed markets, it is higher than the average across sub-Saharan Africa, standing at around 50% as of 2018, and estimated to rise to 130 million or about 60%-65% of the total population by 2025. Additionally, a 2017 study by Pew Research found that 80% of adults in Nigeria owned some type of mobile phone, though the most common phone type was a basic mobile phone.

Mobile Internet Penetration in Nigeria

Aside from the basic mobile features like SMS and voice calls, it’s important to take a close look at mobile internet penetration and smartphone usage in Nigeria as well. According to Pew Research Center, only 32% in Nigeria use smartphones, below some sub-Saharan countries like South African (51%), Ghana (35%), and Senegal (34%) when it comes to smartphone usage. However, it is estimated that smartphone and mobile internet usage in Nigeria will continue to grow over the coming years, and GSMA found that mobile internet penetration had doubled in Nigeria from 2014, growing to 32% by 2019.

It is also important to note that when Nigerians connect to the internet, the vast majority do so from a mobile phone. A study Data Reportal shows that 92.4% of the total internet users in Nigeria are from smartphones, demonstrating the importance of the continued growth of mobile internet connectivity in the country.

These figures are partly driven by an increasingly low price point for Android phones in Nigeria’s mobile market. Thanks to Asian brands like Techno and Infinix making smartphones targeted to Nigeria’s mobile market, the average price of smartphones, which was $216 in 2014, dipped to $95 in 2018, and some basic internet-enabled phones can be bought for as low as $20.

Barriers of Mobile Internet Penetration in Nigeria

Although mobile internet penetration is growing, there are several barriers to access in Nigeria. Affordability is one major barrier for many internet mobile users in Nigeria. Internet cost is still at the high end even after The Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) lifted data floor price limits in 2015 and gave service providers the liberty to drop their data tariffs as it suits them. The lifted data floor resulted in a drop in data prices, but data costs are still high, especially for those living in poverty.

A report by Research ICT Africa shows that the price of 1GB of data in Nigeria fell from $11.18 in Q3 of 2014 to $2.78 by the end last quarter of 2019. However, looking at the high volatility of Naira, Nigeria’s official currency, the cost of data for 1GB in the third quarter 2014 was $11.18 and six years later, it was $2.78. Although Nigeria has the largest economy on the continent, 40.1% of its population lives in poverty, earning 137.4 thousand Naira (roughly $361) per year, so mobile and internet access is still out of reach for large portions of the population.

Another major barrier to mobile internet access is poor quality service from mobile operators. Oftentimes, there are frequent interruptions of services. Inadequate power supply, heavy taxation of network providers, and infrastructure deficit are some of the major reasons for epileptic network services in Nigeria.

Conclusion

While Nigeria still has a ways to go until all of its population has access to mobile phones, the benefits of the growth in mobile penetration in the country are clear. The availability of mobile services has encouraged digital inclusion in Nigeria and has made the exchange of information very easy for business and social advancement. Mobile usage has also helped in the reduction of transportation especially in the agricultural sector, since communication can be done on mobile phones.

Businesses in Nigeria are also leveraging SMS, mobile apps, and websites to reach new business prospects, and the mobile advertising market in Nigeria is also booming. As mobile and mobile internet penetration rates continue to grow in the country, even more services will be tailored for mobile.

GeoPoll leverages the power and reach of mobile to conduct research in Nigeria via voice calls, SMS, mobile-optimized web links, and other modes. To learn more about our research services or get a quote for an upcoming project, please contact us.

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Unique Subscriber Penetration Rate

Based on statistics drawn from Worldometer and Statista, in 2019 South Africa had a population of 58.56 million and 101.9 million mobile subscribers spread across five main mobile network operators. Using these two numbers, the unique subscriber penetration rate comes out to 170%, meaning that there were more mobile subscriptions than people living in South Africa in 2019; however, this rate can be deceiving. In actuality, people may have a few mobile subscriptions across the various networks and this can artificially inflate the penetration rate. The reason why people have multiple subscriptions varies on a case-by-case basis but can be due to attempts to save money and connectivity issues. A recent GeoPoll Application study confirmed this, finding that over 40% of South African respondents reported using multiple SIM cards.

Mobile Access Penetration in South Africa

Mobile access penetration is defined as the number of unique individuals who have regular access to a mobile phone, even if they do not personally own one, as a percent of the population. A study conducted by Pew Research Center identified that 8% of South African adults do not own a phone themselves but share a phone with someone else, while only 5% of South African adults do not own a phone or share a phone. These statistics show that mobile access penetration in South Africa as of 2018 was 95%.

The group of respondents in the study that do not own or use a mobile phone were also asked about if they would want a mobile phone in the future and 65% indicated that they would. This leads us to investigate some barriers to mobile phone ownership and access in South Africa.

Barriers to Mobile Phone Access and Usage in South Africa

Out of the 5% of South Africans that do not own a phone and do not share a phone, 65% indicated that they would like to get a phone in the future. Some of the key reasons that this population indicated as deterrents for phone use were: “worries about theft” (52%), “device cost” (49%), “devices too complicated” (46%), and lack of sufficient literacy for mobile phone use (29%).

Eight percent of Africans who do not own phones of their own but use phones by sharing with a friend or family member reported financial limitations, fear of device theft, and a lack of reliable connectivity as the top reasons for sharing phones rather than owning their own devices.

Phone owners in South Africa reported similar financial and connectivity issues as phone sharers during the same study. Specifically, phone owners indicated that they avoid using their mobile phones due to high data costs: 28% indicated that this happens frequently while 22% indicated it happens occasionally. Data costs in South Africa are notoriously high when compared to other emerging markets, with one report finding that South African data costs are about six times as high as in other emerging economies. Additionally, 19% of the same respondents indicated that they have trouble getting a reliable mobile connection frequently and 25% reported connectivity issues occasionally.

GeoPoll’s Mobile Research in South Africa

GeoPoll’s robust database of survey respondents in South Africa is used to conduct research projects via mobile phones. Our direct connection with mobile network operators in South Africa not only allows us to send mobile-based surveys that are free for respondents to participate, but also immediately provide respondents with the earned incentive the moment a questionnaire is completed. We run surveys in South Africa via SMS, voice calls (CATI or IVR), in-person (CAPI), mobile web, mobile application, and mobile-based focus groups. To learn more about our research capabilities in South Africa and beyond, contact us today.

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Despite high rates of smartphone adoption, South Africa is plagued by high data costs which have resulted in protests and fierce competition between the country’s leading mobile network operators including MTN and Vodacom. It has been found that data costs in South Africa are more expensive than those found in other sub-Saharan African nations including Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana. In December 2019 a report by the Competition Commission highlighted the price disparities between countries, and stated that poorer customers are forced to buy smaller data packages due to cost, limiting their capabilities. Given that a majority of mobile users in South Africa are using mobile phones as their primary way to access the internet, the high costs of data remain a challenge for many.

In order to better understand how South Africans are using their phones, what features and applications they use most often, and how much they are paying for mobile services each month, GeoPoll conducted a study with 400 South Africans via mobile web link.

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SMS surveys are a useful method for conducting mobile research due to their ease, convenience, and wide reach – by administering surveys through SMS, people can answer questions without needing to download and install an application or pick up a phone call at a specific time. Using SMS, research is conducted remotely on an individual’s own mobile devices, with an initial opt-in message being sent first, followed by a series of questions that are answered by typing in answers and sending them back to the same number. SMS surveys are especially useful in emerging markets, where mobile penetration is continually growing, but smartphone and Internet penetration remains low, making online surveys less representative of a country’s population.

SMS surveys are also more cost-effective and faster than face-to-face or voice call interviews, though those modes can reach illiterate populations, which makes them beneficial for certain studies. While SMS surveys can be adapted for many research objectives, some basic guidelines should be followed when designing any SMS survey.

Tips for Designing SMS Surveys

Keep Questions and Answers Under 160 Characters: This rule is both the most important and most challenging to adapt to when designing SMS surveys, especially if you are used to writing questions for online or face-to-face interviews. With SMS, each question and corresponding answer choices must fit into 160 characters, the standard length of a text message. If the text is any longer, it will be split into multiple messages – while messaging services attempt to deliver these in the correct order, they can often come in incorrectly. An example of a question and answer text that fits into 160 characters is below. In order to achieve this, the question has been trimmed of unnecessary spaces, and the text kept as simple as possible while maintaining the integrity of the question:

• • In what types of stores do you shop for food and drink?
    1)Malls
    2)Retail shops
    3)Department Stores
    4)Supermarket
    5)Specialty Stores
    6)Discount Stores
    7)Other
    

To measure question length, you can use the =LEN formula in Excel – GeoPoll’s standard questionnaire template for SMS has this formula in a column to the right of every question. Using abbreviations or slang can also help remove unnecessary characters, though overuse of these terms is not recommended. Finally, if it proves impossible to fit all questions and answer options into 160 characters, you can break the message into two by placing the question in the first message and ending with a message such as “Press 1 to see answer options.” By breaking the messages within the survey design rather than risking them getting split on delivery, you can control how they appear to the survey respondent.

Design Short Questionnaires: In addition to making individual question length short, the overall questionnaire length should also be quite short. GeoPoll recommends that SMS surveys should take about 10-15 minutes to complete, which usually equates to about 30-40 questions, including any screener questions and demographic questions. By testing the survey both internally and with a pilot group of respondents, researchers can see if the drop-off rates for their survey are higher than expected and adjust before sending the survey to the full sample.

Use Clear Opt-in and Instructional Language: As with any survey, the first message should be an opt-in to that specific survey, even if the respondent has already opted-in to be part of a general pool of survey respondents. SMS surveys are no exception, and opt-in language should be clear around the survey length and provided incentive when applicable. Instructional language, such as text that says “Reply with a number” for a multiple-choice question, should also be clear and easy to understand.

Avoid Certain Types of Questions: A critical component of developing SMS questionnaires is understanding what question types they excel at versus those they do not support. Certain question types, such as matrix questions or those that include pictures or videos, are generally not supported by SMS. In addition, research has shown that select all that apply question types do not perform as well via SMS than via other modes such as web link, with respondents selecting fewer choices on average when answering via SMS. Single-choice, yes/no, and ranking questions are all excellent question types to use in an SMS survey. SMS also supports open-ended questions, though due to the character limit of a text message, responses may be shorter than seen with other modes.

Conduct SMS Surveys with GeoPoll

SMS surveys are useful in a wide variety of applications and should be considered for surveys that can be adapted to fit the above guidelines. By partnering with GeoPoll, you will get access to a team of experts in SMS survey design, along with unique platform features such as free-to-respondent messages sent through a short code, and the ability to immediately incentivize respondents upon survey completion. To talk to GeoPoll about conducting your own SMS survey, contact us today.

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Slowly but surely, mobile phone penetration in Africa is improving. In this article, we discuss the current state of mobile phone usage, the implications of this technology, and what future predictions indicate.

What does “Mobile Penetration” Mean?

In order to examine mobile phone penetration, we must first define what we mean by ‘mobile penetration rate’ – there are two definitions of the term that are commonly used:

• SIM Card Penetration: The total number of SIM card connections in a country or region, as a percentage of the total population of that country/region
• Unique Subscriber Penetration: The number of unique individuals who own a mobile phone, as a percentage of the total population

There is a third, less-used definition, which depending on the circumstance should also be considered:

• Mobile Access Penetration: The number of unique individuals who have regular access to a mobile phone, even if they do not personally own one, as a percentage of the total population

As these terms are used interchangeably depending on the source, in order to get a complete picture of mobile penetration rates we should consider all three of these types of penetration, and examine multiple data sources for each. Below we go through the challenges of gathering accurate data on mobile penetration in sub-Saharan Africa and present some of the most recent statistics that are available publicly.

The Challenge of Gathering Mobile Penetration Rates in Africa

In recent years, mobile phone penetration is sub-Saharan Africa has increased dramatically. According to the most recent report from GSMA, an association of mobile network operators worldwide, there are 747 million SIM connections in sub-Saharan Africa, representing 75% of the population. However, it can be difficult to get an accurate estimate of the number of unique subscribers throughout the region, and even more challenging to tell who has access to a mobile phone, even if they do not own one. This is due to multiple factors around phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa: For example, it is common for individuals to own multiple SIM cards, switching between them in order to take advantage of a particular network’s deals or to maintain service when one network goes down. At the same time, if an individual does not own a phone, they may have access to someone else’s: Even in 2013, 58% of Kenyans who did not own a mobile phone said that they shared one with someone else.

In addition, data collection in this diverse region is difficult, especially when measuring statistics such as mobile penetration, which require face-to-face data collection in order to include those who cannot be reached via mobile. Language barriers, lack of infrastructure, and the sheer number of people throughout Sub-Saharan Africa make collecting face-to-face data nearly impossible due to cost and time constraints, especially in rural areas. No one knows, in fact, just how many people live in this region— some nations have not conducted a census in decades, if at all. Political turmoil poses another obstacle, as many citizens of turbulent nations like The Democratic Republic of the Congo are displaced and otherwise unaccounted for.

While mobile-based surveying methodologies can alleviate these issues, getting the initial statistics on mobile usage can be a challenge. There have not been any studies throughout sub-Saharan Africa looking at mobile usage, and most available statistics rely on numbers provided from mobile network operators.

Current Mobile Penetration in sub-Saharan Africa

Instead of looking at mobile penetration of the region as a whole, we must look at individual countries. This both allows us to bring in studies conducted via face-to-face methods in individual countries, and provides a more granular look at penetration rates, rather than examining averages across the region.

Some of the most recent mobile usage statistics come from a 2017 Pew Research Center study, which found that approximately 91% of South African adults own mobile phones, with 51% of adults owning smartphones and the remaining 40% percent owning standard cellphones. Ghana has an 80% ownership rate, and Senegal follows closely behind with a 79% ownership rate, with 34% of adults owning a smartphone and 46% of adults owning a standard smartphone. Nigeria and Kenya also had an 80% ownership rate, while in Tanzania 75% of adults reported owning a mobile phone. The study does find that those with lower education rates are less likely to own mobile phones, and much less likely to own smartphones, highlighting the ongoing importance of basic phones in sub-Saharan Africa.

For the most recent unique subscriber penetration numbers in multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa, we also recommend this report from GSMA in 2017, though their estimates for unique penetration are less than those found through research firms such as Pew and would not take shared mobile devices into account.

Another GSMA report from 2019 looks at West Africa specifically, finding that across the region there is an 86% SIM connection penetration rate, and that mobile internet has a 26% penetration rate. Smartphone usage and mobile internet penetration is expected to grow even more quickly than overall mobile usage in the next few years, and it is predicted that by 2025 mobile internet will have a 40% penetration rate in West Africa.

Benefits of Mobile Access in sub-Saharan Africa

Unsurprisingly, countries with higher concentrations of mobile phone usage and mobile phone access have more successful economies. Without mobile phones and broadband access, rural nations lack the resources necessary to expand their GDP.  Mobile technology, particularly in the past decade, is essential to keep up with international trade and pioneer new innovations. Kenya’s economy is a shining example of what’s to come.

Since the introduction of liberal telecommunications legislation in the late ‘90s, Kenya’s economy has transformed. Mobile penetration rates rose from 1% in 2002 to 39% in 2014, a monumental shift in little more than a decade. This increase was only the beginning— as of 2019, Kenya’s SIM connection penetration rate is an incredible 100.1%.

This increased mobile access plays a major part in the nation’s growing economy. New developments like the Kenya Internet Exchange point, which serves as an international routing hub for the country’s mobile technology, have allowed mobile-based systems to take root throughout the nation. Thanks to their high mobile phone penetration rate, Kenya is now home to key advancements like cutting-edge IoT technology. Mobile banking is changing the face of Kenya, too, and is now available in previously underserved rural areas. As such, productivity, profitability, and even infrastructure is rapidly improving.

What’s Next for Mobile in Africa?

Mobile phone penetration is skyrocketing throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. As mobile phone technology becomes more widespread and less expensive, more sub-Saharan African citizens will have access to technology that was previously inaccessible. According to GSMA’s Mobile Economy Report Series, 84% of the population (1 billion people) will have access to a SIM connection by 2025, a 3.7% increase from 2017.  This increased penetration is estimated to increase the Sub-Saharan African Economy by as much as $150 billion.

As this growth occurs, it is important for more studies to be conducted on mobile access in addition to mobile penetration. We should also continue to examine smartphone and mobile internet adoption while making sure not to discount those portions of the population who do not have access to mobile internet. GeoPoll leverages the growing power of mobile to conduct surveys throughout sub-Saharan Africa. We reach people on their own mobile devices through SMS surveys, voice calls, and web-based methodologies, and also conduct in-person surveys recorded on mobile devices in order to reach those who do not have access to their own mobile phone. For more information on our mobile methodology please contact us today.

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