Africa’s expanding mobile scene is tipped to make a major splash at this year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as the continent has been rated highly for having the fastest growing mobile technology adoption.
According to the AfricaTelecoms Online magazine, the presence of major industry players from Africa at the congress speaks volumes of where the continent is, with the telecom industry and innovation surrounding mobile technology.
Some of the big names expected to showcase the African story include Sifiso Dabengwa, Group President and CEO, MTN Group; Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint MD, Bharti Airtel and Her Excellency, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communication Technology, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Nigeria.
Other bigwigs include Lars Linden, Head of Ericsson, Region Sub-Saharan Africa, Ericsson; George Ferreira, COO, Samsung Electronics Africa; Nic Rudnick, CEO, Liquid Telecom and Bradley Shaw, South African Managing Editor of Africa Telecoms magazine.
“Africa is an exciting space for the mobile industry as a whole,” said Shaw. “Through mere necessity beset by the unique challenges presented across the continent, it continually evolves and shifts, often producing pioneering innovation picked up by the rest of the world.”
The panels are not only expected to discuss Africa’s successes but also challenges such as the dwindling revenue on voice and how operators can get value added services to stay afloat with emerging technology.
Africa’s mobile scene currently has over 750 million subscribers and is expected to exceed the one billion mark in the next few years. The growth has seen numerous innovations built around the mobile phone and this has given rise to a new crop of innovators on the continent.
The GSMA Mobile World Congress will be held in Barcelona, Spain from February 25 to 28.
