Mobile Market trends in Africa a remarkable success story
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...By DIGITAL SABI
Published: February 9, 2010
Africa’s mobile telecoms market has been a remarkable success story for the continent. Since mobile phones went mainstream in Africa in about 2000, the mobile industry has reshaped the continent’s business landscape, impacting every facet of economic and social development in the region.
According to a report by Ovum Research by the end of 2009 there were some 448.1 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, up from just 373.0 million at the end of 2008 – a stunning 20 percent increase representing 75 million new subscribers in just one year.
Although Africa is often viewed as a single market, there is a surprising and varied range of cultures and economies between Egypt in the north and South Africa. Already South Africa is being eclipsed with MTN Nigeria finally declared the largest mobile African operator, taking the slot from Vodacom of South Africa.
But other markets are also showing rapid developments: it is not just the long-established operators that take all the spoils. In 2009 Ghana’s Zain and Cote d’Ivoire’s Green gained rapid market share from the incumbents: Kenya’s ETKL is another example of a new boy gaining ground rapidly where is up against the might of Safaricom.
Etisalat Misr in Egypt is another example of an operator gaining significant ground against two strong and well-established competitors, and is now ranked 17th. in Africa at the end of September 2009.
Ovum reckons the picture is not all rose. In their report they mention that although Nigeria is seeing rapid subscriber uptake, it is also the home of the worst performing operator in Africa: poor old M-Tel has, given its recent history, not surprisingly suffered the largest fall in the rankings of any operator: 93 places from 32nd place in 3Q 2006 to 125th. in 3Q 2009.
“There are still surprises and differences across Africa and it is important to accurately appraise the many emerging opportunities across the continent and to also avoid some of the pitfalls” commented Chipo Madusise , the CEO of Sabi Digital, the leading digital marketing company that also provides mobile marketing solutions.
About Sabi Digital
Sabi Digital is a full service Digital Marketing Agency offering Web Design and Online Marketing Solutions. http://www.sabidigital.com
About Ovum
Ovum provides practical, actionable advice to the technology, telecoms and other business sectors
Tagged with: chipo madusise, eCommerce, sabi digital