In 2024, Egypt accounted for nearly half of all mobile subscriptions in the North Africa region, according to the Africa Telecom 50 Report 2024 (North Africa). With over 134 million mobile lines in service, Egypt controlled 45.3% of North Africa’s mobile telecom market the report revealed.
The report, compiled by Alford Conferences Limited and published through REVENUE Magazine, ranks mobile network operators (MNOs) across the continent based on active mobile subscriptions. For North Africa, the data reflects market activity up to January 31, 2025.
Coming in behind Egypt were Morocco with just over 58 million subscriptions, and Algeria with approximately 53.4 million. Combined, the three countries accounted for more than 82% of mobile subscriptions in North Africa.
The rest of the region’s subscriptions were spread among Sudan (21.6 million), Tunisia (14.3 million), Libya (9.2 million), and Mauritania (5.4 million).
At the operator level, Vodafone Egypt emerged as the largest telecom player in North Africa, boasting over 50.7 million mobile subscribers. Etisalat Egypt and Orange Egypt followed, with 38 million and 31.5 million subscribers respectively. Maroc Telecom and Algeria Telecom rounded out the top five.
The top 10 MNOs in the region also included Orange Morocco, Optimum Telecom (Algeria), Wataniya Telecom (Algeria), Telecom Egypt, and INWI (Wana Corporate) of Morocco.
Speaking during the release of the report from Agbor, Nigeria, Alford Conferences CEO Frederick Apeji noted that the data was sourced from telecom regulators, operators, and, where necessary, credible online platforms. “We’ve built a snapshot of the regional telecom landscape that blends official data with industry intelligence,” he said.
The Africa Telecom 50 Report is an annual series offering insights into telecom performance in all five African regions: Central, East, North, South, and West. The next edition, covering another region, is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2025.
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