Cheaper smartphones can close Africa's digital divide, says GSMA

The GSM Association (GSMA) the advocacy and lobbying organisation for the mobile communications industry, estimates that around 85% of Sub‑Saharan Africa's population lives within reach of a 3G or 4G mobile broadband network. Yet only about 25% of people in the region are online, highlighting a digital divide that threatens to exclude millions as the rest of the world races ahead with next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G and satellite connectivity.

The vast majority of Africans remain unconnected due to factors such as unaffordable smartphones, high data costs, inadequate access to affordable electricity, limited locally relevant content and services and persistent digital literacy gaps - particularly among rural and marginalised groups. What concrete steps must Africa take?

GSMA calls for lowering the cost of access

Angela Wamola, head of Africa at GSMA, tells African Business that the first step in closing Africa's digital divide is getting smartphones into more hands. Millions across the continent still rely on basic feature phones. Smartphones remain prohibitively expensive for many.

"Getting online is about access to the tools. Our biggest imperative is around bringing access to affordable entry-level smartphones for the majority of our population. I think it is the biggest opportunity in Africa," she says.

Though budget smartphones as cheap as $100 or less are more widely available today in Africa, Wamola cites a recent GSMA study, Accelerating Smartphone Adoption in Africa, published in November: "buying a smartphone costs about 26% of monthly GDP per capita. The bottom 40% of our population pay as much as 67% of their monthly income. For the bottom 20% of our population, it is more than 80%."

Innovative financing models that leverage mobile money, digital lending and 'buy now, pay later' models are helping address the affordability problem, Wamola observes. However, she admits that scaling these approaches remains challenging - highlighting the need for additional interventions. She points to the example of South Africa, where the government scrapped excise duties on entry-level devices priced below 2,500 rand ($150) in early 2025, following GSMA advocacy.

"The [South African] government removed the 9% ad valorem tax, which is a luxury tax. Some initial studies show, a couple of months after this tax was removed, a jump in the number who bought these devices - with a more than 40% drop in the number buying feature phones."

AI can help bring more Africans online

Wamola argues that AI can lower the cost of producing locally relevant digital content in Africa, creating an incentive for more Africans to go online. But she cautions that this hinges on integrating African languages into global AI models - a priority that GSMA is pursuing in partnership with major mobile operators in Africa like MTN, Orange, Airtel and Vodacom. "We are taking a collective approach to ensure that AI models reflect the continent's linguistic diversity, cultural identity and market realities... it is about us building our own content that's local, that's relevant, and that allows every person in Africa to find value in going online."

Integrating languages will also help bridge digital literacy gaps, she says, pointing to AI-powered voice-to-voice translation technologies. "You don't have to be digitally literate. You speak in your native language, your message can be translated and the response can still be in the local language that you understand."

Investing in the underlying AI infrastructure is equally vital, Wamola says, given that Africa currently accounts for less than 2% of global data centre capacity and under 1% of AI infrastructure. And "we need to make sure that as we grow the infrastructure, we also grow the capacity of our people across the continent to be able to leapfrog and take advantage of the opportunities that AI provides."

Smart reforms can spur investments

Wamola insists that African governments must embrace bold policy and regulatory reforms if they are to unlock greater investment in the digital economy. She points to GSMA studies indicating that energy expenses account for between 30% and 40% of the cost of operating network infrastructure in Africa. Dependence on costly, unstable power sources creates a vicious cycle: high overheads drive up prices. This is a key factor in high data costs, for example, which result in many smartphone users consistently underutilising their devices when not close to a WiFi connection.

She argues that the key to affordable and reliable power in Africa lies in governments and industry players tapping into the continent's vast green energy potential. Africa, she says, has abundant solar, wind and hydro resources that could help slash energy costs and give network operators headroom to make connectivity more affordable.

Wamola says that fiscal policy in the telecommunications sector and broader digital economy is another area in urgent need of reform. Faced with dwindling tax revenues and shrinking fiscal space, a growing number of African governments have imposed new levies on online transactions and digital services. But Wamola likens this to killing of the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Digital technologies, she argues, are central to the proper functioning and competitiveness of the global economy. Africa risks falling behind if policymakers fail to recognise the role of digital technology in the economy. "Digital technologies drive productivity, quality and efficiency across multiple sectors," Wamola says, citing public administration, health, education, agriculture and manufacturing as fields already being reshaped by digital transformation.

By moving public services online through the E‑Citizen platform, the Kenyan government has leveraged mobile money to strengthen revenue collection. "The platform's director general recently disclosed that monthly revenues have climbed from about $450,000 a few years ago to between $750,000 and $1m today," Wamola says. She argues that by resisting the temptation to levy higher taxes African governments can "unlock other sectors that will drive that much needed revenue mobilisation".

She adds that tools such as GSMA's Digital Africa Index, launched in 2024, can help African governments and regulators craft digital transformation policies. The index allows countries to measure their digital transformation progress against regional peers and adapt successful strategies. It is an interactive online benchmarking tool centred around the Digital Nations and Society Index, which tracks mobile adoption and use by consumers, businesses and governments; the Digital Policy and Regulatory Index, which evaluates the effectiveness of policy and regulatory environments; the Mobile Connectivity Index, which measures infrastructure, affordability, consumer readiness and content availability; and the Mobile Money Regulatory Index, which benchmarks regulatory frameworks for mobile financial services.

"Our goal is to close Africa's usage gap by 2033. That means comprehensively tracking the continent's digitalisation journey and identifying gaps in connectivity, adoption and regulation - as opposed to just counting how many connections we have managed," Wamola says.

Leaving no one behind

Ultimately, bridging Africa's digital divide also demands tackling the toughest challenge of all: extending coverage to those facing structural barriers to access: 10% to 15% of Africa's population live beyond the reach of any mobile network. "This is due to very challenging situations such as conflict areas and hard-to-reach areas that require leveraging other technologies like satellite," Wamola notes.

Women are another special category who must be considered, she argues. Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are 36% less likely than men to adopt mobile internet, according to the GSMA. Limited disposable income often makes it harder for women to afford smartphones or data. Entrenched gender roles restrict access to devices and online spaces. In rural areas, digital literacy gaps are more pronounced among women. Many women are deterred by fears of online harassment and a lack of trust in digital platforms.

"Understanding all these challenges and the barriers that exist, creating awareness and promoting educational empowerment for the communities will be critical going forward," Wamola says.