Telecom
Smartphones Account for 18.0% African Mobile Phone Market Volume
Smartphone shipments to Africa were up 21.5% year on year for Q2 2013, as Nokia has continued to dominate the feature phone market.
According to International Data Corporation most recent Middle East and Africa Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker®, the leading global market intelligence and advisory firm for the information technology and telecommunications markets announced that smartphones now account for 18.0% of the overall African mobile phone market’s volume.
Samsung currently dominates the African smartphone market, recording 52.1% unit share for Q2 2013. This represents the fourth quarter in a row that the South Korean giant’s market share has hovered around the 50% mark. BlackBerry trailed way behind with 17.8% share of the market’s volume. The vendor’s position improved by almost three percentage points on the previous quarter as the brand still retains a high level of popularity in the Africa region due to its cheaper data packages.
LG has been trying to gain a foothold in the market but its products have not been very successful with the masses, and the vendor accounted for less than 2% of the African smartphone market in Q2 2013.
Sony, on the other hand, has reinvented itself with its new lineup after buying out Ericsson’s share in the company.
The Japanese vendor’s midrange and high-end devices are pushing hard against the offerings of the market leaders, with its unit share increasing constantly, up from 0.3% to 3.4% year on year in Q2 2013.
Nokia continues to dominate the feature-phone market, despite the well-publicized difficulties it has encountered in making a comeback in the smartphone space.
The vendor accounted for 58.5% of the feature-phone market’s volume in Q2 2013, down only slightly on its performance in the corresponding quarter of 2012. Samsung trailed in second place with 13.6% unit share.
“There is a huge gap between the leaders and the rest of the market players for both smartphones and feature phones,” says Simon Baker, program manager for mobile handsets at IDC 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 electronics products and unwavering ambition, has been able to achieve just that, in the same vein as Nokia did before it.”
While the task is seemingly putting off smaller players, Hamza Saleem, a senior research analyst for mobile devices at IDC MEA believes there is room for nimble regional brands that pick just a few countries on which to focus.
“They can source Android smartphones at very competitive prices from a host of Chinese manufacturing plants and launch them under their own brands,” says Saleem. “The most prominent such brand is Tecno. It started off with relatively simple phones but is now offering more sophisticated smartphones and is very active in West and East Africa.”
The price of mobile broadband is falling across Africa thanks to the spread of fiber-optic links connecting to the new ocean cables that dot the continent’s coastline. South Africa remains the largest smartphone market, with more than a million units being shipped each quarter, but IDC’s latest figures show Nigeria is rapidly gaining ground.
With the repercussions of the Arab Spring continuing to be felt strongly in some parts of the region, the economic situation in countries such as Egypt has deteriorated.
Such economic constraints have had a negative impact on the top end of the market in the affected countries, with consumers moving toward lower-end feature phones as confidence waivers due to ongoing conflicts in the major cities. Against this backdrop, IDC expects the North Africa region to see a decline in mobile shipments for the foreseeable future.
IDC forecasts the African smartphone market to double in volume over the next four years and account for close to a third of all handset shipments to the continent by 2017.
Feature phones remain the heart of the African mobile phone market, and IDC believes that as the number of mobile users increases across the continent, feature-phone volumes will remain strong despite the growth in smartphone shipments.
Telecom
9Mobile Blames Network Outage on Data Center Fire in Lagos
9Mobile, mobile network operator, has blamed a network outage this week on a fire incident at its main data center in Lagos.
The fire is said to have happened on Tuesday night (December 17), leading to network issues for 9Mobile’s customers until Thursday.
9Mobile said it had experienced multiple fiber cuts which had led to some of the disruption.
Its customers have taken to social media to complain about a lack of voice and data services.
9Mobile is estimated to have more than 11 million mobile subscribers.
The latest outage follows a six-day outage that impacted the carrier in July.
“9Mobile sincerely apologizes for the recent service outages experienced by our valued customers which have affected our ability to provide voice, data, and internet services. We understand the frustration these disruptions have caused and deeply regret the inconvenience,” said 9Mobile in a statement.
“Our technical team has identified the root causes of the outages including a fire incident at our main data center in Lagos last night which severely impacted services, especially in the Lagos and South-West. We are grateful for the swift intervention of the Lagos State Fire Service, which helped prevent further damage.”
The cause of the fire was not revealed by the carrier.
Acknowledging the fiber cuts, 9Mobile explained that prior to the fire, a fiber cut on the backbone links in Lagos led to a total data outage across the country. Other vandalism incidents in Lagos and Abuja led to a total service outage in the southwest and a data service outage in the north of the country.
Telecom
Sytemap Announces 50% Discount on Verified Lands for Women, March 8–14, 2025
Sytemap, a trusted leader in land acquisition and technology solutions, is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking initiative designed to empower women through affordable and secure land ownership.
From March 8 to March 14, 2025, women—including professionals in Africa and the diaspora—will enjoy an exclusive 50% discount on plots from verified estate developers through the Sytemap platform.
This initiative, themed “Her Land, Her Future,” underscores Sytemap’s commitment to breaking cultural and economic barriers that have historically sidelined women from property ownership. Partnering with over 30 reputable estate developers, Sytemap is creating unprecedented opportunities for women to invest in land with confidence.
For decades, women in Nigeria and across Africa have faced significant hurdles in land acquisition, including high costs, fear of fraud, and societal biases. In fact, studies show that 65% of victims of land scams in Nigeria are women.
Sytemap’s CEO, Nnamdi Uba, stated, “Women have long been marginalized in land ownership, a critical path to building wealth and security. Our mission is not only to make land ownership accessible but to eliminate the fears and uncertainties that hold women back.”
With this initiative, Sytemap leverages its reputation for transparency and cutting-edge technology to offer a simple, scam-free, and empowering process for land purchase.
The campaign is designed to resonate with young professionals, particularly women with good-paying jobs who are ready to invest in their future. For women in the diaspora, the initiative offers tailored support, including seamless international payment options and an innovative plot-monitoring app that allows buyers to manage their investments from anywhere in the world.
Key Features Include:
50% Discount: Available only during the trade fair window (March 8–14, 2025).
Verified Estates: Secure locations vetted by Sytemap and trusted developers.
Flexible Payment Plans: Options to spread payments over several months to ease financial stress.
Digital Monitoring: A dedicated app to track land purchases and allocation progress.
Guaranteed Transparency: Every outright payment comes with instant, verifiable certificate allocation, with land documents delivered within three weeks.
This initiative will launch during the “Sytemap Land Trade Fair 1.0,” an event bringing together key stakeholders, women’s organizations, and influencers to celebrate this transformative moment. Women in the diaspora are encouraged to participate and take advantage of this life-changing opportunity.
Imagine a future where women are equal stakeholders in property ownership, shaping communities and securing generational wealth.
Sytemap invites women across Africa and the diaspora to claim their space and rewrite the narrative of land ownership.
For more details and to reserve your plot, visit https://sytemap.com/women.
Telecom
Konga to Launch Africa’s First AI-Powered Hit Music & Commerce Radio Station
Konga, a leading composite e-commerce group, is poised to transform the Nigerian media and commerce landscape with the upcoming launch of its AI-powered FM radio station in Lagos.
The groundbreaking initiative, set to debut in January 2025, will mark Africa’s first Hit Music & Commerce Station, blending Technology, Entertainment, Commerce and more to drive impactful connections across the continent and the world.
A reliable source reveals that the station – KongaFM will be a pioneering platform to empower brands, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to connect with untapped markets, revolutionizing commerce in real time. While offering businesses a new avenue for product visibility and market penetration, the station promises to deliver non-stop hit music, ensuring listeners enjoy a unique mix of entertainment and commercial opportunities. It will be a completely new experience for Nigerians.
Equipped with state-of-the-art broadcasting technology and staffed by a dynamic new blend of seasoned professionals and youthful talent, the station will begin test transmissions in the second week of January 2025.
Konga’s latest media venture comes as part of its broader strategy to disrupt conventional marketing communications and amplify consumer engagement across sectors, including FMCG, electronics, and digital solutions.
The move is expected to send ripples across Nigeria’s FX market, potentially influencing the pricing and availability of key goods and commodities. This aligns with Konga’s history of innovation in the e-commerce sector.
This initiative will also complement Konga’s existing TV arm and other media services, positioning the brand as a dominant force in Marketing Communications. Together, these platforms will create synergies that set new benchmarks for how entertainment and commerce converge in Africa while streaming globally.
When asked for further details, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, CEO of Konga Group, remained tight-lipped, stating that “full details and official announcements will be made in January 2025.”
The anticipation around this launch continues to grow as industry experts and media enthusiasts eagerly await what is already being hailed as the next major evolution in Africa’s media and commerce space.
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