In its April 2025 report, "State of Digital Development and Trends in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities," the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) revealed that approximately 88% of Cameroon's population was covered by a 2G mobile network or higher in 2023.
The report also indicated that only 13% of the population had exclusive access to 2G networks. This means roughly 75% of Cameroonians were covered by higher-generation networks such as 3G and 4G, as 5G had not yet been deployed in the country. These figures highlight not only the widespread adoption of mobile phones but also the increasing use of smartphones, which are capable of accessing 3G, 4G, and more advanced networks.
According to data from GSMA, the global association of mobile operators, Cameroon had 24.5 million mobile subscribers by the end of 2022. This figure accounts for over 50% of the total 48.2 million subscribers across the six CEMAC countries: Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic. To put this in perspective, Cameroon's subscriber base was double that of Chad, which ranked second with 12.5 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2022.
Cameroon's dominance in mobile telephony within CEMAC also extends to smartphone usage. GSMA data shows that 15.18 million smartphones were in use in Cameroon in 2022, representing 57.7% of all mobile devices identified across the CEMAC region during that period.
