Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is set to experience tremendous growth over the next six years, driven by growth in the population with more digital skills as well as more affordable smartphones.

The projections are contained in a new report by Ericsson—which predicts that mobile data traffic will increase 6.5 times by 2026.

Dubbed the "Ericsson mobility report,” it provides industry projections and analyses of the latest trends in the mobile industry, including subscription, mobile data traffic and population coverage.

The latest edition of the report, launched on Monday, December 14, revealed that the average traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 8.9 gigabytes per month over the forecast period, up from the current 2.2 gigabytes.

And mobile broadband subscriptions will continue to grow, thanks to the projected rise in demand from the region’s young, expanding population with more digital skills.

In addition, the report predicts that smartphones will increasingly become more affordable, thus effectively driving up their purchase and circulation.

Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase from 0.87 eyeballs per month in 2020 to 5.6 eyeball by 2026. "Eyeballs” refer to the impressions or viewership that particular web content gets from online users. It is one of the main metrics that web advertisers use to measure the number of times their content has been viewed.

Todd Ashton, the Vice President and Head of Ericsson South & East Africa, said the "incredible explosion of data” expected in the region makes sense considering the numbers of LTE penetration have been growing very fast over the recent period.

"For me, what is fascinating is that a year ago, we had about 7 per cent penetration of LTE, but…now, this report shows that it has moved up to 15 per cent,” he said.

LTE penetration, he adds, is going to unleash so much creativity and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Lambert Rulindana, a digital expert and innovator, for countries like Rwanda, there is a good level of investment in internet infrastructure by telecom operators, and this may be part of the driving factors for the increase in data traffic.

In addition to this, he said, smart gadgets are becoming less expensive than before; and the youthful population of the country is ready to adapt to digital technologies.

"We can estimate that within the next five years, 70 per cent of Rwandans can be using electronic gadgets like smartphones, smartwatches, among others,” said Rulindana, who has worked with local startups like Fab Lab and Nikao Limited.

For him, the increase in data traffic in Rwanda will boost the economy through increased volumes of online businesses.

Meanwhile, concerning the global picture, Ericsson’s report estimates that at the end of 2022, the number of 5G subscriptions in the world will reach 220 million. This is mainly due to a faster uptake in China than previously expected, driven by a national strategic focus, intense competition between service providers and more affordable 5G smartphones from several vendors.

"The rate of adoption of 5G is just amazing and I think it is credibly exciting for the entire world, and it will give us so many opportunities and possibilities from the economic perspective and of course from the societal perspective,” Ashton said.