“Mobile Market Look: Nigeria”

What lies beneath the surface of a troubled country?
People may question why would a company consider doing business in a country like Nigeria with poor infrastructure, frequent terrorist attacks, political instability, corruption, fraudulent internet activities, and more than 40% of the population living below the poverty level. What benefits could the country possibly have that outweighs such turmoil?

Most people only see the negative aspects of entering an African nation. However, to see the opportunities you have to look beyond the common perceptions and recognize the true market potential.

The most valuable resource
Africa is known for its abundance of resources such as oil, gas, gold, and diamonds, but what may be the greatest asset is often overlooked– the people. Africa is home to 1.11 billion people making it the second largest and second most populous in the world.

Lagos, Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest country in Africa and ranked 7th worldwide in terms of population with 173.6 million people as of 2013. Not only is the population large but it is also young, entrepreneurial spirited, and growing. Roughly half the population is reported to be 19 years of age or younger. Interestingly, Nigeria reportedly has the highest total entrepreneurial activity in the world; many Nigerians tend to be innovative and business oriented by nature.

Growth and investment in a rising nation
Nigeria’s projected growth rates rival the top emerging economies – even the renowned BRICS nations.

In April 2014 Nigeria surpassed South Africa as the largest economy in Africa, with a GDP of $510 billion in 2013, $190 billion more than the GDP of South Africa. GDP grew by 7.4% in 2013 up from 6.5% in 2012 and is forecasted to achieve an average growth rate of 7.1% through 2030. Nigeria is ranked as the 26th largest economy in the world and is on track to break the top 20 by 2030. Nigeria plans to invest heavily in 5 major economic sectors to sustain growth: agriculture, trade, infrastructure, manufacturing, and liquid production of oil and gas.

The impressive growth has recently attracted investors all over the world. According to Frontier Market Sentiment Index report in the Wall Street journal, Nigeria is the number one frontier market in terms of attracting investment interests from European and American multinationals. Citing an average of 3 out of 10 major companies having Nigeria on their watch list. Large multinationals such as Dominos, YUM! Brands, and P&G are examples of businesses planning to further expand their current presence in Nigeria because of their success.

With an unsaturated market and promising future, Nigeria is considered an “economic sweet spot” for business.

A mobile hot spot  
The combination of the market size, age, and growth offers great potential to become the most lucrative mobile telecom markets in Africa. The industry accounted for more than a quarter of the GDP in 2013.

Nigeria is ranked 8th in internet usage worldwide with over 67 million users, the majority accessing the web through their mobile phones as many do not have desktop computers and broadband issues remaining prevalent. Nigerians with their adaptive instincts have leap-frogged several technological product cycles; one instance is many people are buying cell phones before having a landline for their household. Nigeria has over 120 million mobile phone users with over 70% market penetration and is predicted to continue to grow substantially. Although mobile phone penetration is rapidly increasing, only about 25% of the population owned a smartphone in 2013 but this number is expected to increase as technologies become more affordable and as the middle class rises.

The mobile service carrier industry is fiercely competitive with main operators MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and Etisalat battling for market share. However, opportunities in other areas within the mobile sector such as applications, content, and payment methods are immense and profitable. Nigerians use their mobile phones for work, entertainment, and social media beyond typical talk and text features. Nigerians are the leading country in Africa in terms of social media use with well over 11 million users with over 6 million members on Facebook’s site alone. Nigeria ranks the 4th in terms of Facebook membership growth rate.

Nigeria is in a great position to benefit from worldly economic trends including the rising demand from emerging economies, growing demand for global resources, and spreading the digital economy. Despite the continued problems within the nation Nigeria continues to display impressive economic growth rates, a growing middle class, and a youthful population that embraces technological developments making the market extremely attractive for business.

Please visit our “Mobile Market Look” series and our look at the Kenyan mobile market

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“Mobile Market Look: Kenya”

This will be the first in our new series, “Mobile Market Look”, where we look at mobile markets in Africa and other emerging countries around the World. Kenya is one of the hotbeds in terms of mobile innovation and sophistication and we hope you enjoy this article and please feel free to leave any comments you may have.

Kenya

Africa has been growing at an unprecedented rate and Kenya is one of the fastest growing tech and mobile markets in the World. Known as “Savannah Silicon Valley”, Kenya is home to over 500 startups in the mobile and digital industries. Kenyans are extremely tech savvy and 70% of the population owns a mobile phone, with 16 million Kenyans accessing the internet through their phones. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is home to the ihubs, incubator space for the tech community that includes 10,000 members an over 150 incubator start-up companies. Companies such as Google, Intel, and Samsung have a presence in Nairobi and IBM set up its first African Innovation Lab in Kenya. If you are in the mobile or tech industry, whether as a company or an investor, Kenya is a country you should get to know and want to do business in.

Kenya is the most developed economy in East Africa with a good education system and a strong business environment. Kenya is a young country with 70% of the population of 44 million people under the age of 35. Kenya also has its issues as 50% of the population lives in poverty and unemployment, although officially listed as 10.5%, can be as high as 40%. There are obstacles, but there are also opportunities. And no opportunity is bigger in Kenya at this time than the mobile money and mobile payment market.

Kenya’s Mobile Market Landscape

Kenya has the most sophisticated mobile money ecosystem in Africa, and maybe the World. Infrastructure improvements, and lack of rigid regulations by the Central Bank of Kenya and the government, have led to market growth and an increase in digital services. M-Pesa, established by Safaricom in 2007, started the current mobile payment revolution and now transacts over $5 billion annually which accounts for 17% of Kenya’s GDP. Over 2 million mobile money transactions take place every day and according to MEF studies mobile money and mobile payments still present the greatest opportunity for growth in Kenya. It is estimated that 85% of the population has used mobile money at some point and most Kenyans prefer mobile money to cash because of the ease of use and the safety. Most African nations are cash-based and people still carry large sums of cash on them, especially when they are sending money to relatives in remote parts of the country, so mobile money offers a safer and easier alternative. Kenya’s financial institutions have picked up on this and are jumping on the bandwagon and creating their own mobile money products. Equity Bank has its own M-Kesho mobile money product and I&M Bank has its own prepaid Safari Card available on the M-Pesa platform.

Even with growth and prosperity Kenya faces security issues and economic problems. There have recently been terrorist attacks on the Kenyan coast by Al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group associated with Al-Qaeda, and no one should forget the terrorist attacks that took place at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi over a year ago. The country has a high poverty rate and weak infrastructure and on the business side there is a lack of capital and belief and faith by investors towards the Kenyan market, and also the Sub-Saharan African market as a whole. Even the mobile market is experiencing its own issues. There is a current price war which has benefited the consumers by leading to decreased prices and more mobile subscriptions, but has created lean profit margins and less profitability for the mobile operators. There is also the concern of the dominance of Safaricom and M-Pesa who currently has the dominant mobile marketshare of 70%. Other mobile operators such as Airtel, Yu, and Orange have a presence but pale in comparison to Safaricom.

Obstacles do exist, but even with these problems and many others the mobile industry in Kenya is experiencing good times. Mobile phone penetration is 78% in Kenya and Africa had an annual mobile growth rate of 82% between 2000 and 2013, highest in the World. There are currently 500 million mobile subscriptions in Africa and there is expected growth in subscriptions of 50% over the next 5 years. Kenyans have also taken to smart phone technology and 67% of all phones sold in Kenya are smartphones. Kenyans like to listen to music, play games, look for sports updates, and watch TV and video on their phones. They also like social media and Kenya has the second most Twitter users in Africa behind South Africa and the second most Facebook users in Africa behind Nigeria. So the promise and potential is bright and the opportunities for business and investment is maybe the best it has ever been. Kenya is definitely a place you should want to be!

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The power of the youth consumer in Africa

Is your business is targeting the youth of Sub-Sahara Africa?  If not, then your business is missing out on the largest and fastest growing youth consumer market in the World.  According to a Mckinsey & Company study over 50% of Africans are under the age of 20 and over the next decade this group will grow faster than any other youth group in the World.

In 2013 Africans aged 16-34 accounted for 65% of the consumer spending in Sub-Sahara Africa, or SSA.  A quick profile of this youth consumer shows that they are online and tech savvy, image-conscious, prefer quality first, price second, are brand conscious, mobile, and they are digital.  And their digital technology of choice is the mobile phone.

Mobile Technology is the de facto technology of choice for the youth of Africa.  For this article I define the youth of Sub-Sahara Africa, SSA, as anyone between the ages of 14-34.  For this group the mobile phone is a passport to a flexible new world that is much desired.

Their mobile phone defines their status and distinguishes their place in society.  The more expensive your mobile device the richer you are, the cheaper your device, the poorer you are. Most young people initially buy low cost, low brand devices, such as Techno, or Huawei, but once they save up enough money they go for a more expensive, nicer looking phone.  Youth consumers in SSA are very brand and image conscious and their mobile device is proof of that.

Another key trend is mobile devices no longer just being phones.  Mobile devices have now become tablets, phablets, and phonblets.  SSA youth are using their mobile devices to view, store, and create mobile content. Even though more youth are using mobile devices daily, only 20% of a phone’s functionality is actually being used according to mobile tech industry analysts.  Of that 20% however, more than 70% of that usage is for communication (email, SMS, social networking, downloading games, music and video apps, etc.).

Internet access is also getting better and sites like Youtube and Facebook receive millions of visits and subscribers.  Texting is still prevalent and phones are used more often for texting than voice calls. However texting can now be broadly viewed as messaging. There is SMS and then there are data based free messaging services like Whatsapp, Ebuddy, and BBM that now actively compliment SMS.

Mobile also provides privacy and control for SSA youth.  Having a phone allows them to keep information from the prying eyes of their parents and family.  According to an InMobi Report in 2012, 47% of Nigerian youth say they love their mobile device because it allows them to keep their information private.

SSA youth also keep their mobile devices on them at all times an according to an InMobi report.  Mobile provides SSA youth with “Found Time”.  Found Time is described as using your mobile device at any time, whether in the bathroom, on the bus, or on your bed to check-in to social networking sites such as Facebook, IRokoTV, etc.

For the business side mobile commerce exists but has not really become part of everyday culture.  Countries where mobile money is strong, such as Kenya and Tanzania, see more activity in regards to mobile commerce, but continent wide this phenomenon has not completely gained steam at this time.  I spoke with Dayo Adefila, CMO of MMIT in Nigeria, on why this current situation exists.  “My guess for why mobile commerce is so low in a majority of countries is the lack of a clear value Proposition.  Merchants are not advertising mobile money acceptance so end-users don’t want any issues with their money.  They basically avoid M-commerce sites.”

Understanding this demographic is vital to understanding the future of SSA.  The technology may change but the consumer habits of tomorrow are being formed today.  The traditional consumer patterns of the West and how companies approach these consumers does not apply to SSA.  The approach taken to reach and speak directly to these consumers is unique and local to SSA and it starts with mobile technology.

 

The future of Mobile Content in Africa

MMIT’s M-Content platform has been developed with the African Sub-Saharan market in mind. In a continent that is growing rapidly and has over 700 million mobile phone subscribers opportunities are endless.  In Nigeria there are over 16 million users of Facebook, Skype, Blackberry, Apple, and Android. In Kenya there are over 7 million users of these same devices.  On the flip side of those numbers only 24% of working age adults in Sub-Saharan Africa hold a traditional bank account with a formal financial institution and a considerably lower percentage of adults have credit or debit cards. With our M-Content platform we will be providing a way for this underserved segment to access and purchase online content and apps they wish to have on their mobiles and PCs.

Before I go further let me first describe our M-Content platform and some of the services it provides our consumers.  Our M-Content product allows consumers with a mobile money wallet, and also consumers who don’t have a mobile money wallet, to purchase content from sites like the Blackberry store, Google, Amazon, the Android store, and I Tunes to name a few and top up or apply credit on gaming and social media sites such as Facebook, EA Sports, Sony Play-Station, and Skype. It also allows consumers who want to purchase apps or apply credit on various sites to do so via their mobile phone, PC or tablet.  Our platform provides a convenient way to do this without the need to use credit or debit cards and instead utilize cash vouchers and the mobile wallet. This eliminates the risk of exposing one’s credit card or debit card on the internet or having the transaction denied due the card coming from a high risk region for fraud and opens the door to such E and M-commerce sites for larger numbers of consumers in emerging markets who do not have access to credit and debit cards.

MMIT is aware of the possibilities and is currently at work on our M-Content platform and expects this product to be launched and live by the beginning of 2013.  We will keep you up to date on the product launch and will announce the official launch date once that decision has been made.  To learn more about MMIT, our M-Content platform, and the other products and services MMIT provides please visit our website at http://www.mmitonline.com.