A recent report has shown that there is a disparity between the prices of smartphones and the average income earned in Nigeria.
The Alliance for Affordable Internet(A4A1) report showed that smartphones are no longer an easily affordable utility based on the monthly income of the average Nigerian receives. It listed Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest cost of smartphones.
According to the report, the cost of the cheapest smartphone in the country at N25,000 represents 37.46% of Nigerians’ average monthly income, while the global average is 20%.
The cheapest 4G smartphone in Nigeria currently sells for about N35,000, while the country’s minimum wage is N30,000. According to Nairametrics.
This new development affects the profit margins of local tech gadget merchants and market shares of phone companies.
Equally troubling, is the fact that this also affects the internet penetration goal of the country. Nigeria aims to ensure that 70% of its citizens have access to broadband internet by 2025. The rising cost of smartphones is sure to put a dent in this target.
In the National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020-2025), the federal government set a 70% broadband penetration target to establish high-speed internet access at speeds of 25 megabytes per second (Mbps) in cities and 10Mbps in rural areas for at least 140 million of its citizens.
With the high cost of quality smartphones, average Nigerians would have to settle for phones with less than impressive bandwidths. As of August, only 9 million of the 84 million internet users in the country had access to high-speed internet.
The committee of the National Broadband Plan released the following statement;
“Some of the factors identified as barriers to the low usage rate and adoption of broadband services include the high cost of services and access devices, low digital literacy, lack of local and relevant content, and poor perception of broadband value, amongst others. Effective utilization of broadband services requires the use of capable devices such as smartphones, tablets, PCs, etc. The cost of these devices is typically higher than what a large segment of the population can afford. "
“Given the above, the government needs to take steps to fast-track the adoption of broadband services and access devices by incentivizing local assembly of Smartphones with pioneer status and other waivers of duties, taxes, and levies – with a target of getting smartphones to Nigerians at below $25 by the year 2025. Adequate digital literacy programs should be embarked upon to enlighten every Nigerian on the relevance of broadband to their lives and day-to-day activities,” the committee said in the broadband plan.”
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