Economy

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

Published

9 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

Six Price Gainers Rally OTC Securities Exchange by 2.09%

Published

1 hour ago

10/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Six price gainers lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 2.09 per cent on Monday, February 9, amid a surge in activity level.

According to data, the volume of securities significantly increased by 3,499.1 per cent to 13.3 million units from the 384,784 units recorded in the preceding trading session, as the value of securities soared by 518.0 per cent to N99.3 million from N16.1 million, and the number of deals moved up by 95.8 per cent to 47 deals from the preceding session’s 24 deals.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc ended the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 16.9 million units exchanged for N699.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 23.2 million units valued at N123.6 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.8 million units traded for N118.5 million.

However, Geo-Fluids Plc became the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 23.2 million units worth N123.6 million, as CSCS Plc was pushed down the pecking order as second with 16.9 million units transacted for N699.9 million, while Mass Telecom Innovation Plc sold 15.1 million units for N6.1 million.

The price gainers were led yesterday by Okitipupa Plc after it gained N17.00 to trade at N237.00 per share versus the previous price of N220.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N6.00 to sell at N66.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, and CSCS Plc grew by N5.35 to N58.85 per share from N53.50 per share.

Further, IPWA Plc appreciated by 23 Kobo to N2.59 per unit from N2.36 per unit, UBN Property Plc increased its value by 19 Kobo to N2.19 per share from N2.00 per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc advanced by 5 Kobo to 59 Kobo per unit from 54 Kobo per unit.

However, Nipco Plc lost N9.00 on Monday to close at N250.00 per share versus last Friday’s price of N259.00 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 22 Kobo to N4.08 per unit from N4.30 per unit.

At the close of business, the market capitalisation of the bourse was up by N46.2 billion to N2.253 trillion from N2.207 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumped 77.22 points to 3,766.94 points from 3,689.72 points.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,354 Per Dollar at NAFEX

Published

2 hours ago

10/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The first trading of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended bullish for the Naira as it gained N11.93 or 0.87 per cent against the US Dollar on Monday, February 9, to trade at N1,354.26/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,366.19/$1.

It also appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N12.03 to settle at N1,845.72/£1 versus last Friday’s closing price of N1,857.75/£1, but depreciated against the Euro by 69 Kobo to quote at N1,613.19/€1, in contrast to the N1,612.52/€1 it was exchanged last Friday.

At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N4 to close at N1,379/$1 versus the previous rate of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was flat at N1,450/$1.

The fortification of the Nigerian currency in the currency market on Monday was driven by forex liquidity, strong oil receipts, and flows from foreign investors attracted by the high yields on the country’s debt market.

Speaking at a forum on Monday, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, declared that the bank’s reforms have established economic stability, evidenced by a significant reduction in inflation and growing external reserves, which he stated stood at $49 billion as of February 5, 2026.

He also highlighted the stability of the FX market, noting that the CBN is now accumulating foreign exchange from the market to enhance sustainability.

“By that, I mean that we now allow the market to generally find its level; many times, the Central Bank itself goes in to buy foreign exchange. The premium between the official and parallel market rates has collapsed to under 2 per cent,” Mr Cardoso stated.

The CBN chief said the reforms of the monetary authority—anchored on disinflation, FX market normalisation, and financial-system resilience—are already strengthening real-sector confidence.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was in a recovery mode as investors took advantage of the drop in prices to add to their portfolios.

The pullback followed a turbulent few days in which Bitcoin (BTC) plunged to as low as $60,000 before rebounding. It rose 0.5 per cent on Monday to $70,415.57, as Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.9 per cent to trade at $2,116.42.

Further, Ripple (XRP) improved by 1.4 per cent to $1.44, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $54.66, Solana (SOL) grew by 0.5 per cent to $87.11, and Cardano (ADA) added 0.2 per cent to settle at $0.2704.

On the flip side, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 0.6 per cent to $638.34, and Dogecoin (DOGE) weakened by 0.3 per cent to $0.0963, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Crude Oil Soars as US Cautions Vessels Near Iran

Published

2 hours ago

10/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude oil gained more than 1 per cent on Monday after the United States issued an advisory to US-flagged vessels to stay as far as possible from Iranian territory while passing through the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

The price of Brent crude was up 99 cents or 1.5 per cent during the session to $69.04 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 81 cents or 1.3 per cent to settle at $64.36 per barrel.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) Maritime Administration yesterday noted that vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman have historically faced the risk of being boarded by Iranian forces, including as recently as February 3.
The agency advised U.S.-flagged ships to stay close to Oman while eastbound in the Strait of Hormuz.

The move renewed concerns that tensions between the US and Iran could lead to oil supply disruptions. About a fifth of the oil consumed globally passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack, citing possible executions of protesters, and saying “help is on its way.” He ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a flotilla of accompanying ships to the region.

In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.

Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday the country will strike US bases in the Middle East if attacked by American forces, which have built up their naval presence in the region.

Investors were also monitoring efforts by Western governments to curb Russia’s income from oil exports that support its war in Ukraine.

The European Commission has proposed a sweeping ban on any services that support Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, in fresh efforts to reduce revenues that help Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Refiners in India, once the biggest buyer of Russian crude, are avoiding purchases for delivery in April. Market analysts noted that if India fully stopped purchasing this crude, it would boost oil prices.

Meanwhile, Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan has returned 60 per cent of its peak production and was pumping at a rate of 550,000 barrels per day as of Sunday, following a forced shutdown for half of January due to a fire.

Tengiz, which is operated by a consortium led by US supermajor Chevron, is expected to reach peak levels of oil output of about 950,000 barrels per day by February 23.