Continued High Internet And Telecoms Growth In West Africa, Says New Report.

   For mobile subscribers, the top 5 markets in West Africa by number of subscribers are (figures rounded up): Nigeria (21.5 million), Ghana (5.2 million), Cote d’Ivoire (4 million), Senegal (3 million) and Mali (1.4 million). And although Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal are not among the top 5 mobile growth countries, they will both to continue to experience healthy increases in subscribers. Both markets are set to see the entrance of another mobile competitor in 2008.

The top 5 countries that have shown the most growth over four years are (in descending order): Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Liberia, Niger, and Ghana. Given the population size of Nigeria, it has been the largest market in terms of growth in overall subscriber numbers. However, the stratospheric increase in numbers is beginning to slow down a little.

Although the data is less precise than for mobiles, in terms of Internet subscribers, there are four countries that stand out as significantly larger than other countries in the region (in descending order) in terms of Internet connections: Nigeria (71,000), Ghana (45,000), Cote d’Ivoire (35,000) and Senegal (30,000).

Every country has shown significant growth in Internet subscribers. However, the top 5 countries in terms of percentage growth over four years have been (in descending order): Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. The growth in Guinea Bissau and Liberia has come from a period of stability and looks set to continue to increase if both countries remain stable. But Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana have all shown significant growth in subscriber numbers that can in part be attributed to the introduction of broadband services.