Mobile technologies as a driver for development and innovation in Africa Thecla Mbongue Senior...

Mobile technologies as a driver for development and innovation in Africa

Thecla Mbongue

Senior Research Analyst – Africa

Informa Telecoms & Media

www.informatandm.com © Informa UK Limited 2013. All rights reserved

2014 IASP Africa Division ConferenceGaborone, 11 April 2014

Agenda

Recommendations

Mobile apps/services improving life in Africa

Mobile telecommunications landscape in Africa

About ITM

About Informa Telecoms & MediaWe are the leading provider of insight , events and training to the global telecoms and media community

Mobile telecommunications landscape in Africa


Botswana – Mobile market, 4Q13

Subscriptions 3.1 million

Penetration rate 148%

Annual growth rate 4.5%

Revenues – 2013 (annual) US$319 million

Fastest growing markets globally


Nigeria15.7% Egypt

11.8%

South Africa8.9%

Morocco5.2%

Algeria 4.9%Kenya

3.9%

Share of Africa subscriptions, 4Q13

810 million subs in 4Q13

Penetration rate: 71%

Annual growth rate:

10%

2013 annual revenues: $59 billion

Highest net additions by market – 4Q13


Top markets in terms of annual growth rates – 4Q13


Major investors – 4Q13


Market share(of total Africa subs)

125.77 m 23.9%

87.02 m

68.10 m

62.77 m

14.3%

13.0%

11.9%

TotalSubscribers

9

Messaging59.4%Mobile

Payments/Banking

12.8%

Internet7.3%

Applications4.3%

Music4.2%

Social Network-

ing3.9%

Games2.8%

Others5.3%

Mobile data users by segment (million) – end-2013 forecasts

• 1.8 billion mobile data users end-2013 (all services cumulated)• Messaging represents 59% of total• Mobile financial services (MFS) and Internet access record highest growth rates

Mobile services usage beyond voice


Smartphones usage uptake

Egypt Kenya Nigeria South Africa

Rest of Africa

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

Smartphone usage forecast in Africa, 2014 -2018

2013 2018• The number of smartphones in use in Africa

jumped from 79 mill. in 2012 to over 112 mill. end-2013. The number will pass the 400 mill. mark by 2018.

•High growth enabled by more affordable

data-capable devices, feature phones and smartphones.

•Across Africa affordability is still an issue for the average end-user. However, increased partnerships between handsets manufacturers and operators has been beneficial for the consumers.

•At he same time, operators promote more segmented prepaid data plans or sometimes partner with banks to offer handsets financing schemes.


Mobile apps/services driving development and innovation



Mobile financial services evolving from basic P2P transfer

Government (tax collection) Schools Utility companies Entertainment

industry Financial institutions

Mauritius: tax collection

DRC: payment of police and army

officers

Various countries: school fees. Latest

partnership include Moov and University

of Togo Various countries: Payment of bills

(electricity, water). M2M for metering

services

Various countries: M2M for POS terminals, ATM services

for cash out, international remittances (Western

Union…), insurance, stock exchange.

Various countries: Satellite TV,

restaurants, ticketing.

Effective data pricing fuels higher usage of social media

13

Airtel WhasApp data bundle

Social networks price plans in Nigeria

• As price competition increases in the data field, operators segment data price plans further with social network bundles.

• In April 2013, Airtel Nigeria launched a dedicated WhatsApp data plan under which unlimited usage is charged NGN100 (US$0.62) per month. The price plan attracted over 400,000 users in 1 month.

• In July 2013, launched a data bundle dedicated to social network Eskimi. The bundle is available on a weekly and monthly basis. The weekly bundle is charged at NGN25 (US$0.15) and the monthly bundle is charged at NGN60. According to MTN, Eskimi has about 6 million users in Nigeria. In January 2013, Eskimi partnered with MTN’s competitor Etisalat to provide access to the platform via a dedicated link on Etisalat’s portal.

• Facebok bundles are available on MTN, Airtel and Etisalat. Operators however still offer Facebook Zero access via mobile web browsers. MTN also offers a Twitter bundle.


Effective data pricing: carrier billing to boost app store downloads

14

MTN Nigeria launches carrier billing

• In July 2013, MTN Nigeria partnered with US software provider neXva to launch NextApps Store.

• The application store consists of free and premium applications and is available online and initially for Android smartphones.

• In addition, the store features “one-click” billing that enables MTN subscribers to purchase applications and have the purchase price taken from their pre-paid account or added to their postpaid phone bill.

• This is the first time a Nigerian operator offers carrier billing option for payments on apps stores. Until then, Nigerian had to pay for their apps by credit card, which limited the potential buyers to a limited segment of the small banked population. At the same time, Nigerian credit cards are generally not accepted on international platforms, which narrows the buyers to a small segment having bank accounts in Western countries.


Collaboration with local authorities and communities to improve basic government services

Birth registration services •Service available in Cote d’Ivoire (“Môh Ni Bah”) and Senegal. According to UNICEF about 66% of

births are not registered in sub-Saharan Africa. Môh Ni Bah targets the rural population. Registration done via SMS or mobile app by appointed agents in a village or the village chief.


mGovernment

Election board available via SMS • Since November 2012, the Burkina Faso election board can be consulted via SMS. Subscribers from any

network can send the key word “CENI” (Acronym for the electoral commission) and their voting card number to a short code from any network, The service is charged XOF200 (US$0.39) per message sent. The service is also available online via the electoral commission’s website.

mGovernment



mGovernmentBotswana Government has a strong presence on the social media sphere • mGovernment is first about efficient use of all mobile services and applications available. •Could the initiative be taken to the next level with a dedicated mobile app and SMS based platform?

Nigeria’s ‘free phones for farmers’ plan

• In 4Q12, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced plans for a program under which free phones would be distributed to farmers. The news sparked controversy, as many feared that the project would soon become a white elephant, financially beneficial only to corrupt officials.

•According to the minister, farmers will acquire mobile phones through network operators in their locality, paying for the devices with vouchers issued by the government. The authorities say they will work in partnership with mobile operators, which will sell the devices through their retail outlets. Once a farmer buys a phone and a SIM card, an e-wallet account will be opened through which he can receive vouchers to buy fertilizer and seeds at subsidized rates.

•The initiative reveals incoherence of the Government’s rural market strategy and it would have been more beneficial if it had been combined with rural projects managed by the country’s USF management body.

mGovernment


• In 2011, Orange Kenya launched mPedigree, an SMS based system to fight counterfeit drugs in Kenya. The service is to be rolled out in different health centres countrywide and will ensure that all drugs have their serial numbers scanned before being administered to patients.

• According to the Health Ministry, counterfeit drugs account for up to 30% of the total drugs in the country. Orange Kenya is also working with Qualcomm and other partners in a project dubbed ‘Wireless Reach’ aimed at automating the procurement of Anti-Retroviral drugs in public clinics.

mHealth


. Cameroon engineer develops tablet to treat cardiovascular diseases. • A Cameroonian engineer launched a tablet embedded with software to help treat cardiovascular

diseases. Branded “Cardiopad”, the 10 inches 3G-enabled tablet is assembled in Cameroon with elements imported from Taiwan. The tablet uses Windows CE operating system. The aim is to equip remote/rural medical centers with a Cardiopad to transmit data via mobile networks to a cardiologist, also equipped with a CardioPad.

• Cameroon has about 30 cardiologists covering a population nearing 20 million and those cardiologists are concentrated in urban centers Douala and Yaounde.

• Challenge: Limited broadband coverage in Cameroon. DSL, FTTx, WiMAX and EV-DO networks limited to urban centres. WCDMA frequencies yet tNo 3G network in Cameroo, except for EV-DO.

mHealth


• In April 2014, MTN Nigeria and utility provider Nova-Lumos partnered on a next-generation alternative "mobile electricity" service. The Nova-Lumos service will provide alternative electricity to MTN customers who are living in rural areas across Nigeria and are not connected to the electricity grid.

• The Nova-Lumos service is provided using a solar panel and an indoor unit that allows MTN customers to subscribe to alternative electricity on demand using their mobile phone. With Nova-Lumos, MTN customers can replace kerosene, candles and flashlights with electricity.

Energy: MTN Nigeria and Nova-Lumos in “mobile electricity” deal


• Somaliland-based telecoms service provider Telesom has partnered with Refugees United to provide a platform that will help reunite refugees in the country.

•The operator has donated 13 million SMS messages and a toll-free helpline to enable citizens to register with Refugees United’s family-tracing platform.

•The service is free to all Telesom subscribers. In 2Q11, Refugees United entered into a similar partnership with Safaricom and Ericsson to help reunite displaced persons in Kenya.

Telesom and Refugees United partner to reunite refugees in Somaliland


• In 2Q13, Botswana changed its livestock identification and trace-back system (LITS) from using reticular bolus with radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchips to a digital ear-tag system.

• The pilot insertion of the electronic ear-tag initiative kicked off in Ramotswa, Botswana’s South East South district this month. Officials estimate that approximately 30,000 cattle have been tracked thus far.


Cattle tracking

Recommendations

16/10/12 www.informatandm.com 24

Simplicity

• Consumers need to access services via clear and easy processes

• Do not neglect USSD functionality, as many of African mobile customers still use basic devices

• Carrier billing option key to increase the number of app purchases

Segmentation

• In Africa, the low end segment (i.e most of the population) is used to buy in small quantities, hence

the success of small denomination airtime on prepaid

• Segmenting per service is also key, as it gives the customer the impression to pay for only what they

need

Strong Customer awareness strategy

• Customer awareness is key to service uptake. Very often new services are only marketed at launch

and/or not explained enough to the target audience

Mobile security policy

• Mobile security systems and processes should be constantly implemented

Thank you

Questions? © Informa UK Limited 2013. All rights reserved

The contents of this publication are protected by international copyright laws, database rights and other intellectual property rights. The owner of these rights is Informa UK Limited, our affiliates or other third party licensors. All product and company names and logos contained within or appearing on this publication are the trade marks, service marks or trading names of their respective owners, including Informa UK Limited. This publication may not be:

(a) copied or reproduced; or(b) lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any way or form without the prior permission of Informa UK Limited.

Whilst reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the information and content of this publication was correct as at the date of first publication, neither Informa UK Limited nor any person engaged or employed by Informa UK Limited accepts any liability for any errors, omissions or other inaccuracies.

Readers should independently verify any facts and figures as no liability can be accepted in this regard - readers assume full responsibility and risk accordingly for their use of such information and content.

Any views and/or opinions expressed in this publication by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Informa UK Limited.

Mobile technologies as a driver for development and innovation in Africa Thecla Mbongue Senior...

Documents

Transcript of Mobile technologies as a driver for development and innovation in Africa Thecla Mbongue Senior...