Kenya among top countries in mobile subscription

NAIROBI, KENYA: Mobile telephony in Africa will grow two-fold by the year 2020 buoyed by technology and innovation. 

Sub-Saharan Africa will still be the third biggest region in terms of mobile phone use, now accounting for 10 per cent of the global subscriber base.

According to a report on mobile trends by online retailer Jumia, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya are ranked in the top 30 of the countries in the world with high mobile subscriptions. 

While launching the report in Nairobi on Wednesday, Jumia Kenya Managing Director Parinaz Firozi said the growth of mobile telephony in the region is unprecedented.  

"Kenya's digital landscape proves beyond doubts that the time is ripe to make mobile the first priority in every business strategy," she said. 

Dubbed the second white paper on mobile trends in Kenya, the report analysed mobile trends across Africa and Kenya.  

It looked at mobile penetration, massive growth of internet connectivity and e-commerce have converged to change consumer behaviour and retail in Kenya. It also offered quantitative insights into the usage patterns, consumption, choices, lifestyle and habits of mobile phone users in Kenya through a survey conducted by Jumia. 

The launch coincided with a week-long sale with huge discounts on mobile phones, in partnership with manufacturers; Infinix, Tecno, Wiko, X-Tigi and Innjoo. It takes place between May 30 and June 3. 

The event also saw a hamper of six new smartphone model launches from the gold partners including Wiko Fever, Innjoo fire 2 and Fire 2 Plus, Innjoo Halo Plus, Infinix Hot 3 LTE and Tecno 7E Tablet that will retail at Sh19,999, Sh7,569, Sh11,769, Sh6,129, Sh11,699 and Sh14,499 respectively, in the sale dubbed Mobile Week Reloaded. 

Customers who purchase mobile handsets during the sale will enjoy up to 50 per cent discounts, countrywide delivery and the option to pay on delivery and a flexible return and exchange policy of seven days. 

The survey showed the mobile industry in Africa continues to pave the way for innovation, providing ground breaking developments for the rest of the world. It addressed the evolution of the mobile industry in Africa for the next five years: the connection of the continent through mobile subscription, the growing smartphone adoption and mobile broadband as well as the full digitization of the economy through m-commerce.

Most of the findings focus on Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Ivory Coast. It concludes that in just five years, almost three quarters of the entire world population will possess a mobile subscription, with almost 1 billion new subscribers added over this period.