Juliet Anammah, Chief Executive Officer, Jumia Nigeria has said that Nigerian Mobile phone market, remains Africa’s largest mobile market, with about 162 million subscribers and a penetration rate of 84%.
She made this disclosure at the launch of Jumia’s Annual Mobile Report ahead of this year’s Mobile Week held recently in Lagos.
Anammah, said Africa boasts of a mobile subscription base of 1.04 billion, representing 82% of its total population with 435 million users and 34% penetration rate while Nigeria has 98 million users, 21 million Smartphone users and 65% penetration rate.
She attributed the growth to the multiplicity of affordable smartphones and a growing market for second-hand devices as one of the major roles in driving the country’s e-commerce sector, which is estimated to be worth 13 billion USD by 2018.
She noted that the multiplication of easy payment options such as credit or debit cards payment, even cash on delivery, and the increasing use of social media sites (active social media users) as drivers that enhanced the adoption of smartphones in Nigeria and Africa.
She said the number of mobile subscribers grew astronomically in 2017 and its penetration increased to 84% in comparison with 53% in 2016, adding that the availability of lower price points’ phones paved way for more Nigerians to own mobile phones.
“With an increase in the number of affordable phones entering the Nigerian market and looking at the trajectory of growth between 2016 & 2017 (31% growth year-on-year), there is a strong indication that by the end of 2018, there might be a 100% penetration of mobile subscriptions,” she added.
Anammah, stated that only 17 million smartphone users out of 21 million are active on social media via their mobile phones.
She added that Average Price of Smartphones in Nigeria Continues to dip Year-on-Year as against other African countries, stressing that smartphone sold on Jumia platform in Nigeria in 2014 was at 216 USD per unit but have seen a decline from 216 USD in 2014 to 100 USD in 2017.
She noted that Asian mobile brand like Infinix, Tecno, Fero etc, contributed to the declined with the introduction of lower price points’ smartphones adapted to the profiles of African users
Olubayo Adekambi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, responding to the question on what influenced consumers buying behaviour in 2017, said that the preponderance of low-cost smartphones and the drive towards aspirational self-enhancement, coupled with exciting mobile operator-led propositions further drove smartphone penetration, with many first-timers finding a compelling reason to pick up low-priced smartphones or second-hand smartphones.
He noted that Peer-to-peer mobile video sharing and over-the-top video platforms drove incremental increases in internet usage, with the so-called illiterates joining the bandwagon to enjoy their latest comedy on the go.
“This mobile trend is shifting advertising’s focus from traditional TV to short videos shown as branded content with subtle product placement.
“According to Markelytics.ng’s Mobile Poll, WhatsApp is the most actively used app for video sharing and an average Nigerian spent 35 minutes per day on this platform,” he added.