The 140 Million Nigerians Left Offline: Rising Smartphone Costs Threaten Digital Economy

140 million Nigerians live within mobile broadband coverage but don't use mobile internet—a staggering usage gap that dwarfs the entire population of most African nations. The GSMA's State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026 report reveals this isn't a coverage problem, it's an affordability crisis: entry-level smartphones now consume 76% of monthly income for the poorest 20% of Nigerians, up from already crippling levels just two years ago.

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