A push to put affordable smartphones in the hands of millions of Nigerians is gathering pace as Smartphone For All prepares to expand into Africa’s largest telecoms market, leveraging early lessons from its South African pilot.
At the core of the expansion plan is to tackle one of Nigeria’s most persistent digital barriers: device affordability.
The initiative, which debuted in South Africa in 2025, is built on a simple but disruptive premise: reducing the upfront cost of smartphones to levels accessible to low-income users still reliant on basic 2G and 3G devices.
In partnership with MTN Group, the programme introduced smartphones priced at just ₦7,900 (ZAR 99), targeting approximately 1.2 million subscribers over a one-year period. The offer was specifically designed to migrate users from legacy networks to 4G-enabled services, unlocking access to broadband internet and digital applications, according to Smartphone for All.
“The digital divide is not just a technology gap—it’s an opportunity gap,” he says. “Without access to a smartphone, people are cut off from education, jobs, healthcare, financial services and even their own voice.”
Smartphone For All: ‘Opportunity gap’ defines strategy
Babatunde Osho, Founder and CEO, Smartphone for All, says the initiative is addressing a broader socio-economic challenge.
“The digital divide is not just a technology gap—it’s an opportunity gap,” he says. “Without access to a smartphone, people are cut off from education, jobs, healthcare, financial services and even their own voice.”
According to Osho, the long-term ambition is to build Africa’s largest digital inclusion platform by expanding access across income levels, geographies and demographics.
Smartphone For All, Osho says, partners with mobile network operators (MNOs) to provide smartphones to 2G/3G subscribers who cannot afford 4G smartphone across Africa. While the initiative was launched with MTN in South Africa, he says the vision is to take the offering to other African countries like Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and other markets.
South Africa pilot offers roadmap for Nigeria
The South African rollout is already providing a working template for markets like Nigeria, where smartphone penetration still lags behind network availability despite continued investments in 4G and emerging 5G infrastructure.
By lowering the cost barrier, the model directly addresses the structural disconnect between network expansion and actual user adoption, an issue that has limited the full realisation of Nigeria’s digital economy ambitions.
Beyond affordability, the initiative integrates connectivity and edge-based artificial intelligence capabilities, ensuring that users can access essential digital services, from financial platforms to e-learning and healthcare tools, without requiring high-end devices or expensive data plans.
For mobile network operators, the benefits are equally strategic. Migrating subscribers to 4G networks improves spectrum efficiency, reduces the cost burden of maintaining legacy infrastructure, and drives higher data consumption: key to revenue growth in increasingly data-driven telecoms markets.
Nigeria telecoms market presents scale and urgency
Nigeria’s telecoms landscape underscores the urgency of such an intervention. While the country boasts hundreds of millions of active mobile subscriptions, a significant portion of users remain on basic or feature phones, effectively excluded from high-speed internet services and the broader digital ecosystem.
This device gap continues to constrain access to critical services, including mobile banking, digital commerce, remote work platforms and e-government solutions, areas central to Nigeria’s economic diversification strategy.
By targeting these underserved segments, Smartphone for All is positioning its model as a catalyst for mass-market digital inclusion, with Nigeria expected to play a central role in its pan-African expansion strategy alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania.
Economic case for device-driven inclusion
The broader economic rationale reinforces the initiative’s timing. Smartphone For All cites research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which indicates that a 10% increase in broadband penetration can deliver up to 1.4% GDP growth in low- and middle-income countries.
However, such gains depend not only on network coverage but also on user access to internet-enabled devices, an area where affordability remains the primary constraint.
South Africa’s policy environment has further accelerated adoption, with measures including reduced taxes on certain smartphone categories and a planned phase-out of legacy technologies, including a ban on new 2G and 3G device activations from the end of 2024 and a full shutdown targeted for 2027.
While Nigeria has yet to implement similar timelines, the country’s ongoing push to deepen broadband penetration and digital service delivery creates a conducive environment for scalable device financing and subsidy models.
The initiative’s early traction has now earned global recognition. Smartphone for All has secured top honours at the Pinnacle Awards, winning the Platinum category for Digital Inclusion and Accessibility, and the Merit Awards, where it received Gold for its work in bridging the digital divide.
Organisers of both awards cite the telecoms sector’s role in driving innovation and connectivity, with this year’s winners reflecting technologies and strategies shaping the future of global communications.
‘A movement powering Africa’s next phase’
Jeff Miller, Director at Smartphone for All, says the recognition underscores the initiative’s broader mission.
“Smartphone For All is not just a business—it is a movement powering Africa into the next phase of development,” he says. “Digital access is the foundation of inclusion in commerce, wellbeing and civic engagement.”
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