Nigeria's number of media consumers via mobile internet is forecast to boom from 7.7 million in 2013 to 50.4 million in 2018, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

This number appears in PwC's fifth edition of its 'South African Entertainment and Media Outlook' which also includes data for Nigeria and Kenya in 12 industry segments.

The outlook includes historical and forecast data on segments such as internet, television, filmed entertainment, radio, recorded music, consumer magazine publishing and newspaper publishing.

And touching on Nigeria's statistics, PwC notes that the country's entertainment and media revenues are forecast to reach an estimated $8.5 billion in 2018: more than double than the 2013 figure of $4 billion

This means that Nigeria's entertainment and media revenues are forecast to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1% for the period, says PwC.

"This represents one of the fastest growth rates in the world," says the the company.

"The internet will be the key driver for Nigeria, where the number of mobile internet subscribers is forecast to surge from 7.7 million in 2013 to 50.4 million in 2018.

"Television in the form of advertising and subscriptions and licence fees, will also become a $1 billion-plus market in 2018, while the market will grow steadily," notes PwC.

PwC's report can be viewed in light of Nigeria's surging mobile phone industry, which is primary driver of internet adoption in a country where fixed line access is limited.

According to a Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) statistics for June 2014, Nigeria has 165.7 connected lines: the biggest mobile phone market in Africa.

Meanwhile, the NCC data shows that Nigeria's number of internet users on the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) networks for this period was 67,2 million.

The NCC says that Nigeria had just 342,696 connected fixed lines for June 2014.