Industry coalition aims to bring $40 smartphones to Africa

This week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSMA (an industry group representing mobile operators) announced a pilot program with major mobile operators to introduce ultra-low-cost 4G devices in six African markets. The participating operators include Airtel, Axian Telecom, Ethio Telecom, MTN Group, Orange, and Vodafone. The pilot will target the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, aiming to bring an additional 20 million users online.

Organized under the Handset Affordability Coalition, the initiative targets a price point of $30–$40. However, Alix Jagueneau, the GSMA’s head of external affairs, cautioned that “the $30–$40 price point is an ambition, based on GSMA intelligence research on affordability and is to be understood as a best effort intent,” citing rising memory costs and high import duties. Taxes can add as much as 30% to handset prices in some markets. Jagueneau pointed to South Africa’s former 9% luxury excise duty on smartphones priced below R2,500 (around $150) as a policy barrier. The GSMA hopes initial proof-of-concept devices could be produced this year, with early consumer offerings potentially reaching markets by late 2026.

Analysts are skeptical of the $40 target. Ahmad Shehab, a research analyst at Counterpoint Research, noted that pushing smartphones in the $30–$40 range may have been historically feasible when memory costs were lower, but current component costs make it difficult. According to Counterpoint Research, the average selling price of smartphones in the Middle East and Africa was about $188 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Ramazan Yavuz, EMEA director at IDC, also called the target overambitious, noting that feature phones (basic mobile phones with limited functionality) priced between $10 and $15 remain the dominant alternative, representing 39.5% of mobile phones shipped in Africa in 2025.

The effort recalls Google’s past attempts with its Android One program. Launched in 2014 in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, and expanded to Africa in 2015, the program struggled to gain traction in emerging markets and never became a dominant platform, though it continued for some years in Japan.

Why it matters

The GSMA is leading a coalition to bring $40 smartphones to African markets to help close the digital divide, though analysts warn that rising component costs and thin margins make this price point difficult to achieve.