[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f0A_9K8l64zOrpd3UAfRCc-dAydw2TYDcjNuVo8vRo1k":3,"_apollo:default":43},{"id":4,"databaseId":5,"title":6,"content":7,"excerpt":8,"slug":9,"uri":10,"date":11,"modified":12,"author":13,"reportCategories":18,"reportTypes":20,"reportDetails":22},"cG9zdDoxNDU4",1458,"Gates Report: Bridging Africa’s Smartphone Divide Insights from 10 Countries",null,"\u003Cp>Most Africans live under a 3G or 4G signal, yet nearly 700 million remain offline. Cost, trust, skills and social norms, not coverage are the real barriers. Drawing on household surveys, stakeholder interviews and multi-sector workshops held in late 2024 and April 2025, this report unpacks how those barriers interlock and what it will take to unlock both access and local manufacturing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n","gates-report-bridging-africas-smartphone-divide-insights-from-10-countries","\u002Freport\u002Fgates-report-bridging-africas-smartphone-divide-insights-from-10-countries\u002F","2025-12-24T23:13:50","2025-12-26T22:32:23",{"node":14},{"name":15,"description":7,"avatar":16},"Qhala",{"url":17},"https:\u002F\u002Fsecure.gravatar.com\u002Favatar\u002F58fe0489a810a27435e6103ed9c9ebb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g",{"nodes":19},[],{"nodes":21},[],{"publicationDate":23,"executiveSummary":24,"bannerImage":25,"pdfFile":28,"relatedReports":7,"reportTags":32},"2025-04-01","\u003Cp>Most Africans live under a 3G or 4G signal, yet nearly 700 million remain offline. Cost, trust, skills and social norms, not coverage are the real barriers. Drawing on household surveys, stakeholder interviews and multi-sector workshops held in late 2024 and April 2025, this report unpacks how those barriers interlock and what it will take to unlock both access and local manufacturing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>What keeps people offline?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>Cost is more than a sticker price; interest rates, charging fees and short-lived data bundles double the real out-of-pocket spend.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Women are disproportionately affected, being 32% less likely than men to use mobile internet and 19% less likely to own a phone.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Sharing is the default. Roughly one in seven users depends on a handset they don’t own\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Supply and Demand: Low demand results in assembly volumes that fall below the break-even point\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Road-map in three moves\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>Design an Africa-specifi c low cost handset with long-life battery, multi-user profi les, women-centred safety defaults.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Bundle for value: zero-rated WhatsApp, micro-insurance and staged payments to push effective cost below today’s feature-phone spend.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Pilot regional manufacturing under AfCFTA, aiming for a fi ve-million-unit annual run, the scale where local assembly pays.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp>Smartphones are Africa’s gateway to the digital economy. This report\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"sourceUrl":26,"altText":27},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002Fqhala-gates-report-bridging-africas-smartphone-divide-insights-from-10-countries-banner.jpg","",{"mediaItemUrl":29,"fileSize":30,"title":31},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002FGates-Report_-Bridging-Africas-Smartphone-Divide_-Insights-from-10-Countries-Compressed.pdf",852901,"Gates Report_ Bridging Africa’s Smartphone Divide_ Insights from 10 Countries-Compressed",[33,35,37,39,41],{"tag":34},"Africa",{"tag":36},"Smartphones Africa",{"tag":38},"Digital Transformation",{"tag":40},"Digital Literacy",{"tag":42},"Infrastructure",{"ROOT_QUERY":44,"Bizzbar:cG9zdDoxNDcw":79},["null","__typename",45,"focusAreas",46,"bizzbars({\"where\":{\"status\":\"PUBLISH\"}})",74],"Query",["null","__typename",47,"nodes",48],"RootQueryToFocusAreaConnection",[49,60,67],["null","__typename",50,"title",51,"slug",52,"focusAreas",53],"FocusArea","Health Care and Life Sciences","health-care-and-life-sciences",["null","__typename",54,"banner",55],"FocusArea_Focusareas",["null","__typename",56,"bannerCenter",57],"FocusArea_Focusareas_Banner",["null","__typename",58,"sourceUrl",59],"MediaItem","https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Fhealth-life-sciences-focus-area-center@3x.jpg",["null","__typename",50,"title",61,"slug",62,"focusAreas",63],"Financial Services","financial-services",["null","__typename",54,"banner",64],["null","__typename",56,"bannerCenter",65],["null","__typename",58,"sourceUrl",66],"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Ffinancial-services-focus-area-center@3x.jpg",["null","__typename",50,"title",68,"slug",69,"focusAreas",70],"Digital Economy","digital-economy",["null","__typename",54,"banner",71],["null","__typename",56,"bannerCenter",72],["null","__typename",58,"sourceUrl",73],"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Fdigital-economy-focus-area-center@3x.jpg",["null","__typename",75,"nodes",76],"RootQueryToBizzbarConnection",[77],{"__ref":78},"Bizzbar:cG9zdDoxNDcw",["null","__typename",80,"id",81,"status",82,"bizzbars",83],"Bizzbar","cG9zdDoxNDcw","publish",["null","__typename",84,"ctaButtonText",85,"description",6,"enabled",86,"link",87,"external",7],"Bizzbar_Bizzbars","Get it here",true,"\u002Freports\u002Fgates-report-bridging-africas-smartphone-divide-insights-from-10-countries"]