Nigeria is leading the growth of Africa’s Mobile app installs with a 43% rise between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. South Africa’s market increased by 37% and Kenya increased 29% according to a report by Appsflyer and Google.
Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions in the app market. With a young and mobile-savvy population driving a booming app culture. The effect of the 2020 pandemic further accelerated the growth of the market.
The report tracked mobile app activities across three of Africa’s largest app markets (Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.
From the first half of 2020 to the first half of 2021, the African mobile app industry (which is predominantly Android) increased by 41% in overall installs. This was analyzed from 6,000 apps and 2 billion installs in the three markets.
The report also showed that in-app advertising revenue increased significantly, with 213% in South Africa, 141% in Nigeria, and 74% in Kenya with more people on their phones due to the lockdown; while non-organic game installs (from ads) increased by 56% as game marketers were increasing spending in response to increasing consumer demands.
The surge in Game apps downloads
Game apps performed remarkably between Q1 and Q2 2020. Game installs increased by 50% across all 3 markets compared to an 8% increase in non-gaming apps. Among non-gaming apps, the report highlighted fintech apps and super apps among those on the rise.
Super apps are “all-in-one” apps that offer users a range of services such as banking, messaging, shopping, and ride-hailing. The report says that its rise is partly due to device limitations on the continent. “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.”
Africa’s large mobile-first population who are inadequately served by traditional financial institutions are driving this growth.
Bottomline
Africa has one of the fastest digital adoption rates in the world making the continent’s app market primed for even greater success.
