Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa have seen a decline in smartphone adoption due to taxes and duties, as noted by the Global System for Mobile Telecommunication Association.
The Punch reported that the GSMA study claims that taxes and duties raise smartphone prices by 10 to 30 percent, depending on the African nation, making the device less accessible for a large number of people.
According to GSMA’s ‘The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa (2023)’ report, manufacturers in SSA face difficulties in producing affordable devices due to high production costs, particularly in the 5G and 4G sectors. This results in a limitation of market share.
The report highlighted that the cost of smartphones continues to be a major deterrent to the region’s use of mobile internet, with almost 60% of Africans lacking mobile internet access despite coverage.
The research emphasized cooperative efforts by carriers and manufacturers to address these issues, which has resulted in a recent drop in the average selling price of smartphones.
The proliferation of smartphones under $100, especially from Chinese companies such as Tecno, Itel, and Infinix, has been significant in democratizing smartphone access.
Moreover, operators are working more and more in tandem with manufacturers to control expenses and provide consumers with financing options, which is supporting continuous initiatives to improve the region’s digital penetration.
