Messaging in Africa Whitepaper (VJD Portfolio)

Messaging in Africa Whether it’s B2B or B2C, messaging in the continent of Africa faces unique challenges, but also illuminates truly innovative and unique case studies as a direct response. Let’s first examine the state of messaging and connectivity in the region.

Smartphone adoption With nearly 300 million smartphone users1 of Africa’s 1.3 billion population, adoption of smartphones is still below the world average of 35%2, but is gaining traction, fast, especially with young people; particularly significant given that Africa is predicted to become the youngest continent in the world over the next 30 years3. By 2021, analyst and consultancy firm Ovum have forecasted that smartphone penetration will reach 67%4, a figure which rivals that of present day Europe, suggesting that mobile trends will become increasingly dissimilar.

Internet availability The trend for the availability of internet is likewise upward, with internet penetration currently standing at 31% (below the worldwide average of 52%)5, but saw a 20% increase in the year 20176. Africa’s access to internet has steadily increased as, at first featurephones, and then smartphones, become increasingly affordable, especially in comparison to computers which traditionally relied on wired connection. Both governments and private companies have therefore seen value in investing in broadband connectivity, and mobile internet. However, regulatory approval and poor inoperability have hindered the latter, and continuing countrywide internet slowdowns or shutdowns from governments mean that SMS continues to be a key player in communication, at least for the time being.

Messaging use cases for consideration -

Education Many organisations use SMS as an effective way to deliver drip-feed educational programmes that are crucial for health and safety. For example, iCow leverages the accessibility of SMS to provide education on infection control with farmers rural areas. Jacaranda Health have used SMS and WhatsApp to deliver life-saving maternity advice to expectant mothers.

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Voting Regional and organisation-based mobile voting is a rapidly emerging and innovative trend in Africa, with increasing concern for voter-fraud. Organisations or local governments are using 2-factor authentication with messaging in order to verify

IDG Connect (https://www.idgconnect.com/idgconnect/opinion/1022805/africa-2017-smartphone-penetration-onlinefreedom) 2 Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/203734/global-smartphone-penetration-per-capita-since-2005/) 3 Brookings (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/09/20/figures-of-the-week-africas-growing-youthpopulation-and-human-capital-investments/) 4 Ovum (https://ovum.informa.com/~/media/informa-shop-window/tmt/events/africacom18/africacom-africa-digitaloutlook.pdf) 5 IDG Connect (https://www.idgconnect.com/idgconnect/opinion/1012306/africa-trends-2018-improved-connectivity-drivetech?connect_token=cHJlbWl1bV9hcnRpY2xlMTU0NzEzNDcxNw) 6 We Are Social (https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018) 1

identities that make this possible, whilst also creating cost-savings, with eVoting typically 60% cheaper than paper in-person equivalents7.

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Banking and payments Near-field communication (NFC) that do not rely on internet connection have revolutionised payments in Africa with many individuals able to take control over their finances in a way they have prior been unable to do without access to internet.

Combined with the trend of increasing connectivity, this has signalled that banking and finances will be a key sector with great consumer demand in the next few years.

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API economy Many local businesses and organisations are reliant on messaging APIs to power their operations, such as receiving and delivering information about the weather (critical for farmers), traffic or even emergent scenarios.

Forecasts and recommendations Given the available data for smartphone adoption, internet availability, and the use cases seen in the continent, Comapi therefore recommends messaging channels to be considered on a case by case basis, with SMS as the default fallback, preferably automated with a system such as Comapi’s Branch intelligence. While there are certainly successes to be had using rich channels such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and the emerging SMS 2.0 of RCS, SMS will be crucial in underpinning these channels to ensure messages are delivered.

An omnichannel approach is therefore more vital than ever.

It’s important to consider the ability for businesses and organisations to enable 2-way communication with their message recipients. Rich channels in theory make this easy and cost effective for the recipient, but this works on the assumption of accessible mobile internet connection. SMS also has challenges here, with the cost for the recipient to reply.

This is a lessening issue, with mobile networks in the region offering more cost-effective text bundle plans in recent years, but continues to be a factor to consider for many demographics across the continent. Whilst there is no solution which exists to serve every recipient every time, an approach which gives recipients as many options as possible will be the most successful in a region as diverse as Africa.

Comapi therefore recommends a cross channel approach, including web links in SMS for users to visit online and use web chat if they have internet connection, but also reply in the text if internet connection is problematic. This allows users to pick the most convenient option for them, with the online option being a lower cost to the end user than a text, but the text being perhaps more convenient for many, lowering the barrier to engagement for all users. In rich channels, agents should include in end of chat messages a means for users to reach the business or organisation offline, such as SMS, in order to remain accessible to users who may be using an internet connection belonging to a business or friend or family member. This will also be crucial in times of government internet shutdown, which continue to be unfortunately common in many countries.

IDG Connect (https://www.idgconnect.com/idgconnect/interviews/1009807/justelect-forging-path-electronic-votingghanaian-institutions) 7