From GMSA.

A new report by GSMA, a global mobile operator’s body, showed that mobile phone use in sub-Saharan Africa outpaced the rest of the world in the last five years, growing by an average 18 percent per year, but the region still lagged behind in service penetration.

The report said the industry, which contributes up to 6 percent to the regions gross domestic product (GDP) and is estimated to reach 8 percent of GDP by 2020, was likely to face some head winds from rising costs of mobile handsets and unfavorable government policies such as increased taxes and lack of proper infrastructure services.

GSMA said less than a third of Africa’s population could access mobile phone services, compared to about 80 percent of the population in developed countries. This, it said, presented a greater opportunity for growth in the region that elsewhere.

It forecast the number of unique subscribers in Africa will rise 37 percent to 346 million in the next three years, at an annual growth rate of about 6.5 percent.

The report showed South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, had the highest number of people using mobile phones at 65.7 percent, while Niger was the lowest at about 20 percent of the population. Despite being the fastest growing market for mobile phone firms, Nigeria’s mobile phone connection was only 29.5 percent by mid this year.

Read more GMSA.