Africa sees surge in mobile app activity during pandemic year

During the past year, mobile app installs have increased markedly across three major African markets, with increased in-app spending and advertising following.

The details

A report from AppsFlyer, in collaboration with Google, analysed information from 6,000 apps and 2 billion installs across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. 

• Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021 overall installs (mostly Android) increased 41%. The greatest growth was in Nigeria (43%), followed by South Africa (37%) and Kenya (29%). 
• Quarterly downloads of gaming apps increased 50% in Q2 2020; non-gaming apps increased only 8% in the same period. Over the course of the year, however, installs of both gaming and non-gaming apps grew at a broadly similar rate.
• In-app purchasing revenue increased 136% in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020, and accounted for a third of annual total revenue. South African consumers led the way (213%) followed by those in Nigeria (141%) and Kenya (74%).
• Between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021 in-app advertising revenue increased 167%.

Super apps, of the sort widespread in Asia, have taken root in Africa, according to AppsFlyer, thanks to a combination of underbanking and device limitations. “Super apps remove some of the barriers that these users face, as well as providing a level of customer insight and experience that traditional banks cannot,” the report said. 

Sourced from AppsFlyer