An online Marketplace, Jumia Nigeria, on Friday projected that 55 per cent of Nigeria’s population would have access to mobile broadband by 2025.

Omolola Onasanya, Head of Vendor Operations and Experience, Jumia Nigeria, made this known during the 2019 Mobile Report Launch held in Lagos.

She said that 70 per cent of the population would have 3G connectivity, while 17 per cent would have access to 4G network.

She noted that about 700 million new mobile subscribers from various countries across the world would push the total number of global mobile subscribers to 6 billion between now and 2025.

Onasanya noted that Nigeria had been identified among these countries, with others being India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, USA, and Brazil.

“It is predicted that Nigeria will contribute four per cent of the estimated 700 million new global mobile subscribers, making it the only country in Africa marked with a significant contribution to increasing mobile penetration in the world.

“By this quota, it is expected that 28 million new mobile subscribers will emerge from Nigeria between 2019 and 2025. That is, an average of 7 million new mobile subscribers annually, if the country is to meet its quota,’’ she said.

Also speaking, Olukayode Kolawole, Head of Public Relations, Jumia Nigeria, said that the availability of lower price point phones still remains the major driver of smartphone penetration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the end of 2018, there were over 36 million smartphone users, representing a penetration of 18.37 per cent.

Kolawole, however, noted that although the number of smartphone users might have increased year-on-year, its penetration was still very insignificant.

“Internet connectivity and the availability of affordable smartphones continue to drive an increasing uptake of social media networks.

“The number of active social media users rose from 17 million in 2017 to 24 million at the end of 2018. This represents a 12 per cent penetration of the country’s population,’’ he said.

Speaking on the company’s consumers, the firm’s Head of Growth and Partnerships, Stanislaus Martins, said 57 per cent of Jumia customers visited the website via mobile web, while 28 per cent used the mobile App and 15 per cent via the Desktop in 2018.

He said that there was an increase in migration from shopping on the mobile web to the Jumia App.

According to him, the shift, although gradual, is attributable to the fact that the App consumes less data, more convenient and affordable due to the frequent discounts offered. (NAN)