Digital inclusion appears to be on the rise following the recent report announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The agency names Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Oyo, and the Federal Capital Territory as the top five states with mobile Internet subscriptions in Nigeria in 2022.
NBS, which is mandated by law to collect, compile, analyse, interpret, and publish statistical information in relation to the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigerians, disclosed that the five states accounted for 33.52 percent (51.90 million) of the total number of mobile subscriptions (154.85 million) in the country in 2022. On the flip side, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Zamfara and Gombe states were the least five states, collectively contributing 4.91 per cent (7.61 million) to the mobile subscription population of the country.
“In addition, Lagos state had the highest number of active internet subscribers in Q4 2022 with 18.7 million, followed by Ogun with 9.2 million and Kano with 8.4 million, adding that Bayelsa recorded the least with 1.1 million, followed by Ebonyi and Ekiti with 1.2 million and 1.4 million, respectively.” The agency added that mobile Internet is the major gateway to the Internet for many Nigerians and according to GSMA, the global association for telcos, as “the primary way most people access the internet in sub-Saharan Africa, mobile is driving digital inclusion”.
The data from NBS further reveal that there were 1.10 million mobile subscriptions in Bayelsa in 2022, 1.27 million in Ebonyi, 1.48 million in Ekiti, 1.84 million in Zamfara, 1.92 million in Gombe, 1.95 million in Yobe, 2 million in Jigawa, 2.04 million in Cross River, 2.24 million in Kebbi, 2.27 million in Taraba, 2.28 million in Sokoto, 2.71 million in Akwa Ibom, 2.74 million in Abia. NBS noted that despite the insecurity challenges that plagued Borno in recent times, the state had 2.82 million mobile subscriptions in 2022. Adamawa had 2.89 million; Plateau had 3.14million; Enugu had 3.14 million; Bauchi had 3.15 million; Nasarawa had 3.22 million; Imo had 3.27 million; Kogi had 3.29 million; Ondo had 3.52 million; Kwara had 3.61 million; Osun (3.72 million); and Benue (3.91 million). The remaining states had more than four million mobile subscriptions in 2022, Anambra (4.21 million), Katsina (4.24 million), Niger (5.09 million), Rivers (5.47 million), Edo (5.53 million), Delta (5.66 million), Kaduna (7.05 million), FCT (7.36 million), Oyo (8.17 million), Kano (8.47 million), Ogun (9.21 million), and Lagos (18.70 million).
Notably, mobile Internet subscriptions in 2022 grew by 8.94 percent from 141.62 million as of December 2021 while broadband penetration also rose to 47.36 per cent in 2022. The growth of mobile Internet subscriptions has translated to increased digital inclusion for many Nigerians, and the continued growth of the digital economy. If this trend is sustained, there are attendant benefits of expansion of business opportunities, increased job creation, enhancement of public services and ultimately, a robust e-commerce.
