GSMA said on Monday it has identified six African countries to pilot affordable 4G smartphones priced around $40, as part of a push to narrow the continent’s mobile internet usage gap.
The pilots will be rolled out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in 2026 under a memorandum of understanding signed by the GSMA, a group of leading African mobile operators known as the G6, and handset manufacturers.
The initiative aims to bring low-cost 4G smartphones to millions of people who live within mobile broadband coverage but remain offline, with handset affordability cited as the main barrier to adoption.
The GSMA said the programme builds on minimum technical standards for entry-level 4G devices announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali in 2025, turning industry coordination into market pilots.
However, rising global memory prices are making it harder to reach the $30–$40 price range seen as critical for mass adoption. With limited room to cut manufacturing costs further, the GSMA urged governments to reduce or remove taxes and import duties on entry-level smartphones.
“Affordable smartphones are the gateway to digital and financial inclusion,” GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath said, adding that around 3.1 billion people globally have mobile coverage but do not use mobile internet services.
The GSMA Handset Affordability Coalition includes mobile operators, device makers, financing institutions and international organisations such as the World Bank Group and the International Telecommunication Union.
The GSMA said it would review progress with industry and policymakers at MWC Kigali in June, alongside discussions on handset affordability, closing the usage gap and locally relevant artificial intelligence innovation.