At Africa Tech Festival 2025 in Cape Town, Majda Lahlou Kassi, Ericsson’s VP and head of the customer unit for West and Southern Africa, discussed the continent’s fast-growing 5G landscape in a conversation with Connecting Africa Editor Paula Gilbert. She noted significant deployment progress across Africa, supported by projections from the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, which anticipates around 400 million 5G subscriptions by 2030.
Kassi highlighted fixed wireless access (FWA) as a key driver of 5G expansion and emphasized the need for affordability, urging spectrum harmonization and stronger collaboration between policymakers and the private sector. She outlined emerging 5G use cases in mining, maritime operations, and enhanced consumer experiences such as real-time engagement for stadium audiences.
She also underscored the transformative role of AI in telecom, stressing the importance of energy-efficient networks and the development of digital skills to ensure Africa’s youth can fully participate in the continent’s evolving digital economy
