Internet penetration, as well as mobile phone penetration, is often derided as exaggerated in Nigeria.
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But some recent figures indicating the contrary has shown that mobile app installation increase is as a result of a mix of smartphone adoption and internet penetration to communities where the internet didn’t exist previously and it grew by 43% between 1st Quarter 2020 and 1st Quarter 2021.
Per Techcrunch, it shows Nigeria is leading in the mobile app rankings and South Africa, coming at a close second with 37%, and Kenya placing third with 29%. Consumer spending in mobile apps also hit a new record at $32 billion and $64.9 billion, in the 1st Half and 1st Quarter respectively.
The data shows that just 3 top countries comprising Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa with hitherto high mobile phone penetration rates were focused on in the study.
Courtesy of traffic, data shows that app installations have increased by 41% across the three countries of Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. It also shows that there have been up to 6,000 app downloads.
However, one very key reason why there has been a spike in mobile phone penetration can be adduced to the coronavirus pandemic where phone users have been holed up indoors and have had to be married to their mobile phones for longer.
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As a result of the increased mobile app downloads, in-app advertising revenue have also increased significantly, with 213% in South Africa, 141% in Nigeria, while Kenya is 74%.
For the year 2020 which has the largest returns in recent times, in-app purchasing, in the 3rd Quarter, rose by 33%.
While we saw the biggest increase result in the 2020s in-app purchasing revenue. There was a sharp increase between July & September 2020 in comparison to the three months preceding the stipulated period.
Aside from in-app revenue growth, the Fintech apps segment also witnessed an increase in downloads with Nigeria and South Africa seeing as much growth rates as 60% and 116% year-on-year respectively.
Gaming, Fintech and Super apps comprised the largest concentration of app downloads across the board with gaming apps growing as much as 44% in 1st Quarter 2021.
Featured Image Source: Business Insider Africa
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