Kenyan industry leaders are optimistic about mobile content and commerce revenue growth.
This is one of the finding from an MEF three-country African Growth Market Study on mobile content and commerce , which found that one-third of respondents saw mobile end-user revenues rise more than they expected last year.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in a market with highly developed mobile money and m-banking offerings, mobile money was found to be the main source of end-user revenue at 53% followed by social networks (37%) and mobile commerce (30%).
The results also revealed that mobile payments are considered by far the greatest opportunity for market growth at 87% followed by mobile advertising and rising smartphone adoption with business confidence in decline with traditional downloadable content such as ringtones and perhaps surprisingly games.
While opportunities in the mobile industry abound, business leaders cited that the main challenges lie with the operators, particularly with regards to high charges and network issues.
Providing a clear call to action to the industry respondents believed that more should be done to educate and reassure consumers and whilst rising smartphone adoption is one of the greatest opportunities, fragmentation issues are still considered a challenge.
Rimma Perelmuter, CEO of MEF, says: “This report provides an industry-wide snapshot on mobile activity and opportunities in Kenya today as part of our regional roadmap of activities, following the launch of our dedicated MEF Africa office in association with Vodacom in late 2012. Kenya is a market of great interest to our members and as the study clearly demonstrates a showcase for success, particularly in mobile money.”