Mobile telephony is by far the dominant telecom platform across Africa, accounting for more than 90% of all telephone lines in the region. As a consequence, mobile internet also accounts for a similar proportion of all internet connections. Given the size and range of markets on the continent, market penetration is varied between countries. By the end of 2016 the highest mobile penetration was found in countries including Libya (155%), Botswana (176%) and Gabon (190%), which reflects the popularity of consumers having multiple SIM cards. By contrast, a number of countries have a penetration rate less than half of this level.
