In a recent report on the Nigerian mobile sector, Jumia, one of the leading e-commerce companies in Africa, has revealed an 11 per cent increase in the number of Nigerians who visited its website via their mobile phones in 2017
Meanwhile, those who used their desktop computers or laptops dipped to 18 per cent in 2017 compared with 29 per cent in 2016.
The report has also showed that in 2017, 70 per cent of Nigerians preferred the cash on delivery option, compared to 28 per cent and 12 per cent for credit/debit cards and mobile money options respectively.
Speaking at the launch of the mobile report in Lagos, Juliet Anammah, CEO of Jumia Nigeria, described the upward shift from desktop to mobile as a positive development. She attributed the increase in the number of mobile phone users to the multiplicity of affordable smartphones, especially the Asian mobile brands which continue to build on their Africa-specific strategy by introducing lower price points' smartphones adapted to the profiles of African users. She also listed a growing market for second-hand devices and the increasing use of social media sites (active social media users) as contributing factors.
Anammah further hinted, “The mobile industry continues to play an increasingly important role in the socio-economic development of the African region. As Nigeria swiftly becomes a mobile first country, with mobile phone penetration currently at 84 per cent of the population, Jumia is doing its bit to close the gap with sales initiatives such as Jumia Mobile Week.”
This year, the stage is set once again for the biggest sale of mobile phones, from 19 – 25 March 2018. “We believe that, by end of 2018, at least every Nigerian will have access to a mobile phone,” added Anammah.
In his remark, Olubayo Adekambi, chief transformation officer of MTN Nigeria, identified, “The expansion of e-commerce into a dual business model that blends the physical and the digital to create an ecosystem between brands and consumers across the two worlds,” as among the major factors fuelling the increase in adoption of smartphones.
In order to ensure rural dwellers have increased access to ICT devices such as smartphones, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has created an IT Innovation hub, which has the capacity to produce e-literate groups from low skilled or low paid workers, unemployed people, and those with disabilities who do not have access to these ICTs.
“NITDA has seen in ICT the potential to change new and old forms of economic activity. We’ve created e-Learning Centres to further enrich the rural communities’ quest for learning and for continuous after-school reading and learning by both the students and teachers, among other initiatives,” noted Dr Isa Ali Pantami, director general of NITDA.
