Features

The edge of Africa's addressable market

Connectivity to rural areas is described as below par compared with that in urban parts of Africa, and it’s not being effectively addressed.

20 July 2018

The easy job of signing up mobile phone subscribers in African cities is largely done. The concentration of people in urban areas made it easy for operators to connect them. And the business case was relatively simple, as the number of calls made through their towers – which for the most part are connected to power grids – provided them with a handsome revenue stream.

The same cannot be said for the continent’s rural areas. The sparse population reduces operators’ pool of customers, and the distance from electricity grids makes it difficult to maintain power to their towers.

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