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Survey shows increased appetite for mobile apps among Nigerians

By Adeyemi Adepetun
06 July 2016   |   2:41 am
A new survey carried out by global trade body, Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) in association with Etisalat Nigeria, has revealed an increasing appetite for mobile apps and entertainment services among ...
PHOTO:MARKETING LAND

PHOTO:MARKETING LAND

A new survey carried out by global trade body, Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) in association with Etisalat Nigeria, has revealed an increasing appetite for mobile apps and entertainment services among Nigerian telecommunications consumers.

The study identifies apps, music and video as the biggest drivers for the increase in mobile data spending as a third of Nigerian mobile media users have paid to increase their data packages in the last six months in order to access these services.
Chief Executive Officer, MEF, Rimma Perelmuter, said the growth of the mobile ecosystem from more established areas like entertainment and messaging to the uptake of health, reading, transport and foods apps, along with the uptake of mobile Commerce and banking is encouraging and demonstrates the continued rise of the mobile economy in Nigeria”, said.

Perelmuter explained that while the report shows strong growth in data consumption with 34 per cent purchasing additional data, it also highlights that nearly three quarters of respondents, which is 73 per cent, are still held back from downloading popular services such as video & using more apps, due to a lack of trust.

“Therefore in order for the mobile opportunity to truly take off, not only do the networks need to continue to improve their service, but data and pricing models need to be more affordable, transparent and better understood as the study shows that where this is the case, consumers are more willing to pay for content and services as long as the value is clear”, she said.

The Director, Digital Business, Etisalat Nigeria Adia Sowho, who spoke on the outcome of the study said that “the diversity in consumers’ data usage is encouraging but a key enabler that drives usage is the use case. The study tells us where opportunity has been captured, can be deepened and in some cases, is untouched”.

She added that Etisalat is committed to offering innovative solutions that would enhance the lives of consumers even as the consumers’ behaviours continue to evolve.

“The research also reveals future opportunities outside of apps and entertainment and Etisalat is already positioned to maximise these opportunities to provide consumers with value-adding products and services”.

Sowho revealed that the study showed that mobile learning and reading Apps both perform well in Nigeria while consumer confidence in banking apps and mobile money solutions is growing remarkably.

MEF ‘s study of the behaviours and attitudes of 1,000 Nigerian smartphone users showed that 45 per cent of respondents already buy more than 2GB of data per month. When consumers pay to increase their data bundle, it is mainly to consume more mobile apps and content such as video and music.

Healthcare is found to have the highest future potential according to the mobile media users studied, alongside localised services such as taxi apps and food delivery.

The research revealed that the mobile banking sector appears to be gaining momentum in Nigeria with almost 68 per cent of smartphone who hold bank accounts or own credit cards participating in some form of mobile banking. Nearly half reported using a banking app and 27 per cent do their banking via USSD indicating that the banks’ intensive marketing campaigns are starting to pay off.

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