Economy

Nigeria Has 150m Mobile Subscriptions, 97.2m Internet Users—Jumia

Published

8 years ago

19/04/2017

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A leading e-commerce in Nigeria, Jumia Nigeria, has released a its third African Mobile Trends Paper highlighting how the market has democratized mobile internet use, the consumer behaviours driving increased smartphone adoption and the role of mobile brands, mobile operators and m-commerce in creating a synergy of an enhanced customer experience.

A statement obtained by Business Post, it was disclosed that were 960 million mobile subscriptions across Africa, an 80 percent penetration rate among the continent’s population. Internet penetration is at 18 percent with 216 million internet users.

“While Nigeria’s internet penetration is much higher at 53 percent, its mobile subscription is similar to Africa’s at 81 percent penetration (150 million mobile subscriptions).

“Like last year, it is presumed that the unique subscription rate is lower as each subscriber owns an average of 2 SIM cards,” Jumia said in the report.

In the white paper presentation from Jumia delving into mobile trends across Africa and specifically Nigeria, this year’s Mobile Africa Study was carried out in 15 African countries which generate more than 80 percent of Africa’s GDP – Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Mozambique, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Senegal.

“As predicted in 2016, Nigeria continues its trajectory down the increasingly widening highway that is the mobile internet. With a current internet penetration rate of 53 percent (97.2 million users) Nigeria has a much higher penetration rate than across Africa (18 percent).

“About 71 percent of website visitors on Jumia use their mobile phones. This is in comparison to 53 percent of Jumia African customers.

“One of the main vehicles of this mobile trajectory is the increasing adoption of the smartphone device by consumers.

“As predicted in our 2016 report, smartphone adoption continues to rise in Nigeria. The mobile phone category continues to be the most popular among Nigerian shoppers on Jumia, both in terms of the number of items sold, and in terms of revenue generated.

“The sales of smartphones jumped up by 394 percent between 2014 and 2016, mostly driven by an increasing range of smartphones price points,” Jumia stated.

The report further said, “The average price for a smartphone on Jumia is $117, down from $216 in 2014.

“Correlating with this is a drop in the share of sales of basic feature phones from 6 percent in 2015 to 4 percent in 2016, even as the share of smartphones on the website increased.

“In 2016 Chinese mobile brands held dominance and played a major role in introducing smartphones with lower price points.

“Infinix, Innjoo, Tecno, Samsung and Yezz are the top 5 smartphone brands in terms of sales on Jumia.

“Infinix continues to be Africa’s top smartphone brand across Jumia’s 15 markets. One of their entry level smartphones, the Infinix Hot4Lite was one of the best-selling phones across several African markets including Nigeria,” it added.

The increased access and affordability of low specification smartphones has also revealed a need for the mobile ecosystem to respond with data-efficient browsers and mobile apps that are optimized for performance and an easy user experience.

Looking at the mobile internet browsers customers use to access Jumia, 50 percent of customers in Africa come onto Jumia’s mobile site with Google Chrome. In Nigeria that number is just 28 percent. Instead, the Opera mini browser is much more popular, with 41 percent of the mobile traffic to Jumia Nigeria coming from Opera mini.

One reason for this could be that countries with higher levels of income have been found to have more users accessing the internet with heavier browsers like chrome – which typically have higher system requirements.

Opera mini is a lighter browser in terms of data usage and is popular among new mobile internet users who have lower incomes and can’t afford costly internet data packs.

A recent report from Opera determined the savings on mobile data costs for Opera mini users in Nigeria has amounted to about $198 million (N39.5 billion) over a 10-month period, due to its data compression technology.

This is a clear example of the ripple effect that customer enjoy when a slight change is introduced by one of the digital ecosystem players.

On our end, an immediate key priority is to enhance the desktop user experience (which accounts for almost 30 percent of Jumia’s traffic and almost 40 percent of orders placed) by delivering a progressive web application that bridges the gap between conventional web pages and native mobile applications, to give customers a faster web and desktop experience that includes functionalities like push notifications and the ability to browse while offline.

The trend since 2013 was for people to use their mobile phones to browse and look up products and then purchase them on their desktop.

Now customers are checking out and paying for orders from the mobile app or the mobile friendly version of the website. This is a trend we foresee growing in the future based on the current figures.

Mobile customers (both those who use the Jumia app and those who browse from mobile browsers) account for 63 percent of all orders on Jumia Nigeria.

Across the 15 markets where the study was carried out, that figure is at 47 percent. With a whopping 2,236,000 Jumia app downloads from 2015 to 2016 (a 128 percent increase), Jumia app users form a significant portion of the mobile traffic on Jumia Nigeria. Currently, 1 out of 2 mobile visitors in Nigeria are coming from the Jumia mobile app.

The highest conversion rate recorded in the last year has been on the app. That is the number of completed orders in relation to the number of visitors is higher on the mobile app than on the mobile or desktop versions of the website.

This could be driven by the fact that the app is exclusively designed for mobile and therefore has a faster and better shopping experience for users.

Hence, the priority for mcommerce for the next few years is to continually democratize the usage of the app and incentivize an increase in usage by maintaining a better browsing experience and lower data consumption.

Strategic collaborations with phone operators and data providers are also a key factor for enhancing customer experience.

For example, the 0 data usage (free browsing) offered to MTN sim card owners when they browse on both the Jumia mobile site and the app will remain a key feature and value-added service for Jumia customers.

Nigeria’s mobile trends for 2017 are positive with a steady growth of smartphones adoption and diversity. These increased offerings deliver more value for customers and cheaper access to internet connectivity.

As smartphone brands and mobile operators continue to invest in research and development and innovative data packages, and ecommerce providers invest in customer service, logistics and marketing over the next few years, our outlook is for an even more synergized digital ecosystem over the next few years.

Economy

Female-led Businesses Have 7.2% Higher Activity Rate Than Male Counterparts—Eniolorunda

Published

19 hours ago

29/11/2024

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The chief executive of Moniepoint Incorporated, Mr Tosin Eniolorunda, has said it’s more profitable to serve women than their male counterparts.

Speaking at the second International Financial Inclusion Conference 2024 organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other critical stakeholders, he said women entrepreneurs have proven to be diligent and enhance profitability.

He disclosed that based on data harvested from the Moniepoint platform, “women-owned businesses are more likely to stay active and show higher engagement rates in financial transactions.”

According to him, in cases where financial support has been extended—through investments, KYC compliance, or the provision of tools like point-of-sale devices—female-led businesses have a 7.2 per cent higher activity rate than their male counterparts while looking at the gender relations with credit products, “women-owned businesses have an 87.5 per cent lower loan non-performance rate (NPL) than male-owned enterprises.”

He submitted at the event themed Inclusive Growth: Harnessing Financial Inclusion for Economic Development that for financial inclusion to be sustainable, especially for women, it must no longer be treated as a buzzword, charitable social activity or a checklist to be marked.

Mr Eniolorunda noted that financial service providers play a vital role in supporting gender-inclusive finance and that by collecting and analysing data on gender trends in small business performance, they can craft better policies, targeted products, and support services that encourage more women entrepreneurs.

Echoing similar sentiments, his counterpart at the Credit Registry, Ms Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, said, “90 per cent of women’s income that they receive goes back to the communities and their families as such when women have access to credit, the community is enhanced, families are better off which is why it’s important that they can access this funding.”

In her summation, the Deputy Governor of the CBN for Operations, Ms Emem Usoro acknowledged some of the structural challenges that might require time and resources to be addressed including cultural practices and less systemic ones such as distance to financial services providers that stifle the participation of women-owned businesses, while signposting the power of data to catalyze inclusive growth and its viability for economic planning.

Economy

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Moves to Protect Mutual Fund Holders

Published

19 hours ago

29/11/2024

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A significant step has been taken by Stanbic IBTC Asset Management to protect mutual fund holders from scams.

This is being implemented through a campaign launched by the organisation to raise awareness of scam attempts that may mislead customers into using incorrect account details, highlighting the tactics used by scammers to keep customers informed and vigilant.

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management intends to use this means to build trust and reassurance, reinforcing its dedication to the financial safety of its clients.

This move, taken in response to an alarming rise in scam attempts targeting mutual fund holders, will educate customers on protecting their investments and understanding the correct procedures for mutual fund subscriptions.

The firm has advised customers to verify the payment accounts for any Stanbic IBTC mutual fund investments, encouraging due diligence in confirming the legitimacy of financial communications.

The chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, Ms Busola Jejelowo, said, “At Stanbic IBTC, our top priority is our customers’ financial safety, and we are fully committed to ensuring that our clients have the security they need while managing their investments.

“This campaign is designed to protect our customers and empower them with the knowledge necessary to recognise and verify the authenticity of any communications they receive.

“By doing so, we aim to foster a sense of confidence and security among our clients regarding their financial decisions.”

It was gathered that recently, enquiries about the authenticity of mutual fund subscription messages have surged. Many of these messages contain differing and potentially incorrect account numbers, leading to confusion and concern among investors.

The company has made it clear that customers should not hesitate to contact the support team directly with any concerns, questions, or suspicions regarding communications or transactions.

Economy

NASD Index Records 0.67% Appreciation

Published

21 hours ago

29/11/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) recorded a 0.67 per cent appreciation on Thursday, November 28, with the portfolios of investors on the platform rising by N7.09 billion to N1.061 trillion from the N1.053 trillion it closed in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) growing by 20.22 points to wrap the session at 3,026.60 points compared with 3,006.38 points recorded on Wednesday.

This happened after the unlisted securities market finished the trading session with three price gainers and two price losers.

Afriland Properties Plc gained N1.58 to end at N17.39 per unit compared with the midweek’s closing price of N15.81 per unit, as Acorn Petroleum Plc improved its value by 14 Kobo to close at N1.69 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N1.55 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N1 to sell for N23.00 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N22.00 per unit.

On the flip side, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc lost 4 Kobo to finish at 32 Kobo per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of 36 Kobo per share and Geo-Fluids Plc slumped by 3 Kobo to sell at N3.90 per unit compared to N3.93 per unit it was sold a day earlier.

There was a 191.9 per cent rise in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 2.9 million units compared with the previous trading day’s 1.0 million units.

Equally, there was a 283.9 per cent surge in the value of shares traded yesterday to N7.9 million from the N2.1 million recorded in the previous day, and the number of deals increased by 300 per cent to 12 deals from the three deals executed in the preceding day.

At the close of transactions, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units worth N5.3 million.

Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.