According to the GSMA, mobile technology is critical to raising many people out of poverty.
According to a World Bank report cited by the global association of telecommunications firms, mobile broadband was responsible for bringing two million people out of extreme poverty in Nigeria between 2010 and 2016.
It also stated that it lowered the proportion of Nigerians living in extreme poverty by 1.5 percentage points.
This was discovered in the ‘2023 Mobile Industry Impact Report: Sustainable Development Goals report.
The organization said that it was consistent with academic and empirical research indicating that mobile technology adoption led to major economic, social, and environmental improvements.
“Over the last five years, the economic value added generated by mobile technologies and services has increased by $500 billion, reaching $5.2 trillion of economic value added (5% of global GDP) in 2022,” it stated.
“Over the last five years, the mobile industry has added approximately two million jobs globally; by 2022, it will support 28 million jobs.” People’s lives and well-being increase when they own a smartphone and have access to the internet.”
According to the GSMA, mobile’s impact on the Sustainable Development Goals has expanded dramatically since 2015.
It was stated that in 2015, the year the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted, the mobile industry’s average SDG impact score was 33.
Since then, the mobile industry has made significant progress in improving its influence on the SDGs, according to the report, with the industry making significant contributions to SDG 4: excellent education; SDG 6: clean water and sanitation; and SDG 7: affordable and clean energy.
This is due to an increased share of people utilizing mobile for activities such as collecting educational information for themselves or their children, accessing government services, and paying bills, according to the GSMA.
However, the mobile industry’s influence on the SDGs stalled in 2022 due to a fall in the proportion of mobile subscribers engaging in SDG-related activities on their phones.
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“While mobile use across these activities has remained higher than before the pandemic,” the GSMA argued, “the resumption of in-person engagements across sectors such as education and healthcare is likely to have an impact on user behavior.” The cost-of-living dilemma is also likely to be hampering utilization, as worldwide inflation is putting pressure on consumers, thus limiting their ability to fully utilize mobile services.”
“The mobile industry’s biggest impact continues to be in SDG 9: industry, innovation, and infrastructure, driven by the widespread reach of mobile networks, investments in 5G and infrastructure, and the growing uptake of mobile internet services,” said Mats Granryd, Director-General of the GSMA.
“Over the last seven years, nearly 2 billion more people have gained Internet access through their mobile phones.” This important connectivity accomplishment has taken us closer to closing the digital gap and providing folks with the resources they require to succeed.”
According to the GSMA, mobile is the primary means of Internet access for most people in low- and middle-income countries, with 57% of the world’s population (4.5 billion people) accessing critical information and services such as education, healthcare, and financial services, as well as income-generating opportunities, via mobile Internet by the end of 2022.
“However, at the halfway point, more can be done to improve mobile’s contribution to the SDGs,” it continued. To identify innovative ways to scale the impact of mobile, the mobile industry must collaborate closely with stakeholders (including governments, other industries, civil society, and the international community).”
Source: PunchNG
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