The number of mobile subscriptions in Africa will cross the 750m mark during the fourth quarter of 2012 and reach 1bn before the end of 2015, according to forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media.

Africa has the highest rate of growth in mobile subscriptions among major world regions, with the number of mobile subscriptions in Africa forecast to grow by 17,5% over the year to end-2012, a higher rate than in any other major world region and above the world average of 10,75% over the same period, Informa says in a statement.

Africa has the world’s second-biggest mobile market region by subscription count, behind Asia-Pacific but ahead of Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America and the Middle East.

“Africa’s mobile market continues to grow robustly, driven by competition among mobile operators, the availability of new data services and strong economic growth on the continent,” says Matthew Reed, principal analyst at Informa for Africa and the Middle East.

The number of mobile subscriptions in Africa will reach 761m at end-2012 and will rise to 1,13bn at the end of 2017, according to Informa. Nigeria, which crossed the 100m mobile subscriptions threshold in the second quarter of 2012, will continue to be Africa’s biggest mobile market and is forecast to have 168,99m subscriptions at end-2017, followed by Egypt with 129,4m.

The rate of mobile penetration in Africa at the end of September was 67,55%, which was the lowest rate among major world regions and some way below the world average of 91%. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media