Mobile technology and services contributed $5.2 trillion in additional economic value in 2022, or 5% of the world economy. Mobile operators generated the second-highest amount of benefits, $650 billion, after productivity impacts ($3.5 trillion).
In its “The Mobile Economy Report,” which was published on Monday, the Global System for Mobile Telecommunications Association (GSMA) stated that the mobile sector also significantly contributed to funding the public sector, with almost $530 billion being raised from taxes on the industry.
Services VAT, sales taxes, and excise charges provided the most revenue ($210 billion), followed by employment taxes and social security ($160 billion).
The GSMA, which represents the interests of more than 400 operators worldwide, including those in Nigeria, noted that about 16 million people worldwide have direct employment through mobile carriers and the broader mobile ecosystem.
Additionally, it claimed that the ecosystem’s economic activity supported about 28 million jobs directly or indirectly by creating 12 million employment in other industries.
Following the trend of growth, according to the GSMA, mobile’s contribution will reach $5.6 trillion by 2025 and surpass $6 trillion by 2030 as nations all over the world gain more from the increases in productivity and efficiency brought on by the growing use of mobile services.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data revealed that ICT sector operations generated 16.22% of Nigeria’s actual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q4 2022, according to research done by The Guardian.
The ICT sector, according to NBS, is divided into four sub-sectors: publishing, motion picture, sound recording and music production, broadcasting, and telecommunications and information services.
When compared to the 15.35% reported in Q3 2022 and 1.01% when compared to the same period in 2021, the Q4 2022 increased by 0.87%.
According to the bureau, ICT contributed a total of 16.51 percent to the nation’s GDP in 2022 as opposed to 15.51 percent in 2021.
Additional investigation revealed that the telecommunications sub-operations sector’s contributed 13.35% of the GDP in real terms, which helped the ICT sector’s real growth rate of 10.35%.
The ICT sector’s overall contribution to the Nominal GDP in Q4 2022 was 10.42 percent, which was greater than the rate of 9.98 percent seen in the same quarter of 2021 and higher than the contribution of 9.58 percent made in the quarter before.
The mobile industry became the first sector to commit to the 17 UN SDGs in 2016, according to GSMA, who was speaking about the impact of the mobile industry on the SDGs.
It was mentioned that the GSMA has since measured the impact of the mobile sector on the SDGs every year.
The telecoms organization noted that the most recent analysis revealed that the mobile industry increased its impact on all SDGs in 2021, with the average year-on-year increase accelerating compared to 2020.
It also noted that the average SDG impact score across the 17 SDGs reached 53, up from 49 in 2020 and 32 in 2015 (measuring the mobile industry’s achievement of 53% of what it could potentially contribute to the SDGs).
The GSMA reports that, compared to six SDGs in 2020 and none in 2015, mobile today contributes more than 50 percent to 11 SDGs.
It claimed that due to the reach of mobile networks and the use of mobile Internet services, the mobile industry continues to have the greatest influence on SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
The GSMA reported that the industry’s contributions to SDGs 1: No Poverty, 2: Zero Hunger, and 4: Excellent Education showed the greatest advances. It claimed that this was because a greater number of individuals are utilizing mobile devices to access services provided by the government, look for and apply for jobs, and get information on education for themselves or their kids.
The affordability of mobile data and gadgets has also improved, according to the research. This arises after affordability deteriorated in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s drop in per capita income.
