ICT in Africa smartly does it

Mobile money innovations 
Mobile banking continues to flourish in Africa off the back of increased mobile penetration. Kenya remains the leader, with almost a quarter of the population using mobile banking and half the population interested in doing so, according to TNS data. 

Other African countries remain less familiar with the technology. Trailing behind is South Africa with only 9% of people using mobile banking. In Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, the figure is 6%. In Senegal it is 1%.

Nonetheless, mobile money innovations continue to come to the fore, especially in Kenya. One of the biggest successes is M-Shwari, an interest-bearing savings product, which Safaricom and the Commercial Bank of Africa brought out in November 2012. In its first six months, M-Shwari has pulled in 3.5m customers generating $11.7m in savings and $22.4m worth of loans.

Other new mobile money products include Kenyan company M-Kopa, which offers a product which allows customers in rural areas using M-Pesa to buy electricity on a pay-as-you-go basis. Interest in mobile insurance is also rising. The micro-insurance firm BIMA has attracted particular attention for its low-priced mobile insurance offerings too. LeapFrog, the world’s major investor for insurance in emerging markets, recently committed $4.25m to BIMA in a strong sign of faith in BIMA’s strategy, which includes zoning in on Africa.

In contrast with the mobile phone market, demand for more expensive technology like laptops and tablets is more modest. However, there are hints that some companies are keen to open up the market. Tablet sales in the Middle East and Africa increased by 184% in the first quarter of 2013, year on year, according to IDC. There are stirrings of interest from major technology companies. Notebook firm Asus aims to introduce a series of models in trendsetter Kenya this year – the Taichi Convertible Ultrabook, the Zenbook Touch Ultrabook and the G-Series gaming laptop. Samsung is also showing signs of long-term commitment – it intends to establish a new assembly plant in Ethiopia to manufacture laptops. It also wants to set up a plant in Kenya, which will employ 900 people.