MWC Kigali 2025
Keynote 1: Africa’s Future First – ‘Determining the Path to a Digital Future’
Tuesday 21 October 2025 | 09:30-10:30am | 10 mins

Excellencies, honourable ministers, ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning, it’s a privilege to welcome you to MWC Kigali – thank you for joining us.

Almost 40 years ago the first mobile phone call was made in Africa.
That call was made by a Rwandan: Miko Rwayitare.
All these years later, it’s only fitting that we are here in Kigali to celebrate how mobile is shaping Africa’s future.
Today, mobile networks are one of the largest, if not the largest, infrastructures on the planet.
In Africa, there are around 300,000 mobile sites…
91% of the population is covered by our networks…
And I don’t even know how many kilometres of cables stretch across the continent.
Africa is now connected in ways that would have been unimaginable in those early days of mobile.
710 million people are using mobile services across the continent…
… and last year, we contributed $220 billion to GDP.
Our industry has been at the centre of Africa’s transformation, and we are now laying the foundation for its future.
As technologies like 5G and AI transform our societies, industries and economies, one thing is certain: Africa’s future will be digital…
And I believe three forces will help define it – intelligence, investment and inclusion.
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Let’s start with intelligence, by which I mean artificial intelligence.
As you can see, AI could add $2.9 trillion to the African economy by 2030.

This is a big opportunity – for business, governments and citizens.
In Rwanda, the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is producing exciting use cases – like drones delivering blood to rural hospitals and IoT devices helping farmers measure soil conditions.
The Rwanda AI Scaling Hub launched this year will also be a vital platform to support AI innovations in the country and across the continent.
And African operators are seizing the opportunity too…
MTN has partnered with Microsoft to deliver AI-enabled early warning alerts to more than 300 million Africans…
And in Kenya, Safaricom has developed a chatbot for farmers to access real-time information on weather patterns, fertiliser use and market prices.
From health to early warnings to agriculture, the opportunities of AI are indeed very exciting.

But we also have a challenge.
To realise the full potential of AI, it must be accessible.
But have a look at this map:

It shows us where datasets are created and used… and it’s been distorted to show where the sets originate…
It’s clear we have a problem.
In Africa – there are over 2,000 languages, but they make up only 0.02% of online content.
If models are trained only by the connected, how will they be relevant for the unconnected?
As an industry, we are doing our part to address this challenge:
The GSMA Foundry has worked with VEON and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to build the first LLM for the Kazakh language – a strong proof of concept that inclusion is possible.
Orange is working with OpenAI and Meta to train their LLMs on West African languages…
And today, I’m pleased to announce a continent-wide collaboration with leaders from Africa’s mobile ecosystem to create inclusive African AI language models.
AI shouldn’t be a luxury for the few… it must be accessible to all.
Of course, building models that support every African language will not be easy…
But we have a duty to keep working together to ensure that Africa is not just a user of AI, but a builder – developing solutions that boost the economy and drive growth across the continent.
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Moving onto our next priority, investment.
Here in Africa, there are two areas that need focus – infrastructure and energy.

Without the right infrastructure in place, we have no connection.
Currently, 2G and 3G account for over half of mobile connections in Africa.
But 4G and 5G are catching up – as you can see, they will represent 75% of total connections by the end of the decade.

But all of this needs investment – and right now the current model is not sustainable.
By 2030, operators in Africa will spend $77 billion on capex…
But mobile data traffic is growing exponentially at the same time… doubling by 2030…
So these investments may not be enough to support Africa’s future connectivity needs…
… which is why we need regulatory frameworks that create fair operating environments for operators and incentivise infrastructure investments.

But even if we get this right, infrastructure without energy is useless.

While Rwanda and a few other countries are on track to achieve universal energy access by 2030…
You can see in some parts of Africa, less than 20% of the population has access to electricity.
And this has consequences…
For operators and enterprises, who cannot do business, or have to invest in generators to keep going…
… and for customers, who can’t use a phone that isn’t charged.
A digital Africa is not possible without access to reliable, scalable and affordable energy.
As the mobile industry, we are working with initiatives like Mission 300, run by the World Bank and African Development Bank, to look for synergies as they aim to connect 300 million more Africans to electricity by 2030.
Governments will also be crucial partners to solve Africa’s infrastructure and energy challenges…
We need their support – with fair and consistent regulations, streamlined processes for land access, permits and building rights, and policy reforms to incentivise investment.
Ultimately, we are all in this together – we all want to unlock the power of connectivity for a digital first Africa.
But to do this, we need investment – not just from mobile operators, but from everyone who benefits.
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Which brings me to my final point – inclusion.
Africa has never been more connected than it is today.
416 million people are now using mobile internet.
But as we see here, almost three-quarters of the population remain unconnected.

In grey – 135 million, or 9%, live in the coverage gap – areas where there is no mobile network coverage.
Here we are making progress, and this gap has closed from 31% in 2017 to 9% today…
But the bigger challenge is the usage gap – in red.
790 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 960 million people when you include North Africa – live within mobile coverage but are not using mobile internet.
This is the largest usage gap in the world.

Now the good news is that we know the reasons – in Africa, device affordability and lack of digital skills are the two biggest.
But these are not challenges that anyone can solve alone - we have to work together.

Last year, we launched the Handset Affordability Coalition with 25 partners…
And today, I’m proud to announce the GSMA and Africa’s G6 operators have proposed a set of minimum requirements for affordable 4G smartphones.
Our members also show the feasibility of lowering the cost of devices – MTN launched a $5 smartphone, and Vodacom released one for $14.
Of course, governments also have a role to play – by reducing or removing taxes we can lower the cost of handsets.
This year, the South African government scrapped the luxury tax on entry-level smartphones – this is a lead that all African governments can follow to help address the affordability barrier.

Now, digital skills are also a big focus for many African governments…
Here in Rwanda, the government aims to achieve universal digital literacy by the end of the decade.
At the GSMA, we are supporting with the Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit which has trained more than 80 million people globally.
And through our Connected Women Commitment Initiative, our mobile operator partners, many of whom are in Africa, have reached over 80 million more women with mobile internet and mobile money services since 2016.

The usage gap is one of the biggest challenges of our time, but it’s also one of the biggest opportunities.

If we close it, we can add around $625 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2030…
… and allow millions more to be part of Africa’s digital future.
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All of us here understand the importance of digital for Africa’s future.
In the almost 40 years since Miko made that first phone call, connectivity has unlocked possibilities to share knowledge, to bridge distances, and to build a global community.
As we look to the next 40 years, with all of its possibilities, I believe that if we focus on:
AI and its potential to transform lives and livelihoods…
Investment in infrastructure and energy to underpin the digital economy…
And inclusion to make sure nobody is left behind…
Africa can accelerate its journey toward a more innovative, sustainable and connected digital future.
Thank you all for joining us, and I wish you a successful MWC Kigali.
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Questions for fireside chat with MTN:
1. It’s clear that we have progress on the coverage gap. What else is needed on the usage gap to connect more and more Africans?

2. ⁠From a regulatory perspective, what do you see as the major issues needed across Africa to attract and sustain investment in digital infrastructure and services?

3. ⁠Generative AI is a major thematic today. Is enough being done across Africa to ensure Africa will benefit from this foundational technology?

4. ⁠Any perspectives on financial inclusion? Have we made enough progress? What else is needed?
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Questions for fireside chat with Orange:
1. Yasser, you are an engineer by training and I am very happy to see you now leading a giant operator. What do you feel your background brings you in this great challenge?

2. There are still over 1 billion people in Africa not using mobile internet, and 960 million live in an area where coverage is available. The reasons are varied, ranging from device affordability and digital skills to a lack of networks. Connecting the unconnected will be vital for Africa’s digital future, and the role of operators like Orange is crucial.

How is Orange ensuring that its core services, the first step of digital inclusion, reach every African and Middle Eastern Citizen, especially in rural or hard-to-reach areas?

3. From mobile internet and mobile money to AI tools, our industry plays an important role to connect people in Africa to services that improve their lives. As AI adoption increases and more Africans join the digital economy, our industry is set to contribute $270 billion to Africa’s economy by 2030.
How is Orange leveraging innovation and AI to drive inclusive growth and digital transformation across Africa and the Middle East?

4. With 70% of the population under the age of 30, Africa’s youth represent one of the continent’s greatest assets. Yet, digital inclusion remains a key barrier to progress and almost 75% of people in African are still unconnected. Orange is doing important work to equip young people with the skills they need to thrive in the future.

How does Orange support young Africans in developing digital skills and entrepreneurial capacity to drive the continent’s transformation?