Tag Archives: mobile

The Prepaid Economy as a Commercial Operating Environment

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 18, 2019

I have been looking for information the global prepaid mobile subscriber market since yesterday morning. Initially, all I wanted to know was the percentage of prepaid subscribers in China, as I wanted to compare operating environments in major mobile markets like India and China, against the fast growth emergent one in sub Saharan Africa. What […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frugality, Ghana, global, Income, India, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged africa, china, digital mobile social ecosystem, digital social economy, ecosystem, emerging markets, india, informal economy, prepaid business model, prepaid economy, south east asia | Leave a comment

Emergence of a decentralized digital economy? Snippets from Nigeria and Kenya

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 22, 2018

Continuing the conversation from the recent posts on app enabled demand redistribution as well as digital platforms being used by informal sector economic actors to boost their own productivity and efficiency, I thought to share snippets from these two recent articles I just came across, as cases in point. From Nigeria, West Africa: How WhatsApp […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Business, Business Models, Emerging Futures, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged africa, app economy, digital platforms, gig economy, informal economy, smartphones, uberization of african informal economy | Leave a comment

Lessons from African Fintech for the Gig Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 20, 2018

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to share my research on the past decade of mobile ecosystem development across the African continent with Dr. Antti Saarnio, founder of Zippie; co-founder of Jolla (developers of the Sailfish OS, among other things). “We want to test our product first and foremost in Africa because there is […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Futures, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, Income, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Loans, Mobile platform, Perspective, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged android, design, fintech, gig economy, informal economy, mobile money, mpesa, pilot, prepaid economy, smartphone, user research, user testing | 1 Response

All Hail the Business Model Behind the Global Gig Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 11, 2018

The first world’s ardent embrace of the gig economy is already over. Buyer’s remorse is setting in, even though it may have helped global unemployment hit its lowest point in forty years. What will remain, however, is its impact on the usually overlooked Rest of the World, where the ability of an app to drive […]

Posted in Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, Income, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Systems, Technology | Also tagged africa, developing country, gig economy, india, informal economy, prepaid economy, uberization, uberization of african informal economy | Leave a comment

From the Caterpillar to the Butterfly: Africa’s Mobile Boom Years Are Over, Here’s What Next

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 9, 2018

For the past 15 years, Africa watchers have been waiting for her mobile phone industry to reach a critical landmark – almost full saturation of the market. This milestone may be close at hand, as recent news and data show. In June 2018, Kenyan mobile subscriptions reached 98% penetration, a 13% jump over the previous […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Afrique francophone, Airtime, Emerging Markets, Ghana, global, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UEMOA | Also tagged africa, cellphone, milestone, mobile ecosystem, mobile phone, mobile subscribers, prepaid economy | Leave a comment

The Mobile as a Post Industrial Platform for Social and Economic Development: Top 3 Trends in Africa

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 11, 2018

Just over a decade ago, in San Jose, California, I was invited to speak as the Closing Plenary for the CHI 2007 25th Anniversary Conference. The theme was “Reach Beyond”, as this was the 25th Anniversary conference of the Computer Human Interaction society, and as the closing plenary, I was tasked with articulating the vision […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Business Models, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Futures, Emerging Markets, Innovation Planning, Marchés africains, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology | Also tagged design for complex adaptive systems, emerging markets, ict4d, international development, mobile platform, platform, post industrial, strategy | Leave a comment

Tecno and Nokia: The tale of two brands

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 6, 2018

Chinese mobile maker’s original brand strategy succeeds in Africa: Transsion’s Tecno This year, Nokia got shoved out of the top 10 most admired brands in Africa list, not bad for a company that had lost its way in emerging markets 7 or 8 years ago. As an old (in all senses of the word) Nokia […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, China, Design, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Mobile platform, Perspective | Also tagged brand, design planning, john heskett, nokia, strategic design planning, strategy, tecno | Leave a comment

Connectivity, Communication, and Commerce: The 3 Cs of Africa’s Smartphone Led Future

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 25, 2018

Recent headlines touted the decline in marketshare being seen by smartphones on the African continent, and the concurrent increase in sales of basic devices. Yet a closer look shows that this shift might only be numerical due to the opening of new markets in heavily populated DR Congo and Ethiopia – first time buyers are […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Analysis, Assumption filter, Business, Business Models, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Emerging Markets, Informal & Flexible, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology | Also tagged africa, commerce, communication, connectivity, Social Media | Leave a comment

Mobile First Africa: Opportunity for Accessories that Boost Productivity on Smartphones

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 21, 2018

Long ago, when smart phones were still on their way to changing the world, I remember the product development of a host of accessories that would boost business productivity in a variety of areas for phone owners. The projector phone was one such innovation, flopping back when it was launched due to the tech not […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Distribution, Emerging Markets, Innovation Planning, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology | Also tagged accessories, African Consumer Market, design, enterprise solutions, mobile first, mobile first africa, productivity, smartphone | Leave a comment

Samsung took its commitment to the African market very seriously

By Niti Bhan | Published: June 30, 2017

This article in the Financial Times caught my attention first for it’s mention of Samsung’s seemingly innovative adaptation to the harsh operating environment prevalent across the African continent. It reminded me of the very first exploratory user research programme I had been part of, for Samsung, back in early 2008. That was a seminal trip […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Emerging Markets, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, rural, South Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology, User research, Value | Also tagged africa, design for the bottom of the pyramid, engineering, samsung, value | Leave a comment