South Korean electronics firm Samsung is dominating Africa’s smartphone space as its market share on the continent has touched 52.1%.

This is according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) quarterly mobile phone tracker report that says Samsung has a strong lead in Africa as BlackBerry follows far behind with a 17.8% market share.

The report goes on to say that smartphone shipments to Africa increased 21.5% in the second quarter of 2013.

This surge in smartphone shipments to the continent means that the devices account for 18% of the overall African mobile phone market's volume, according to the IDC.

Meanwhile, the IDC adds that Africa’s smartphone market is expected to double in the next four years.

"There is a huge gap between the leaders and the rest of the market players for both smartphones and feature phones," said Simon Baker, program manager for mobile handsets at IDC Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA).

"As a continent, Africa requires a very significant commitment in terms of local offices and resources in order to build out a presence and logistical capabilities across so many countries. Samsung, with its broad range of consumer electronic products and unwavering ambition has been able to achieve just that, in the same vein as Nokia did before it," added Baker.

Nokia, however, dominates Africa’s feature-phone market.

The Finnish phone maker accounted for 58.5% of Africa’s feature-phone market in the quarter under review, says the IDC.