Digital marketers by definition focus on areas where people are connected. The tech revolution started in the US, and quickly spread to Europe and then on to Asia. Now there are more smart phones, internet connections and ecommerce purchases made in Asia than any other region.
Unfortunately, Africa has frequently missed out on the potential of the digital revolution, and because of this it has remained a small market (in relative terms) for digital marketers, and hasn't received an awful lot of attention.
That should be starting to change. As the chart below shows, not only are phone shipments to Africa increasing considerably, to over 200 million units a year (that's the combined population of the UK, France and Germany!) but they are also becoming mostly Smartphones.
Smartphones ownership means internet access, ecommerce potential and social media use. Digital marketers should take note, the vast African market is opening up, don't get left out.
By Robert Allen
Rob Allen is Marketing Manager for Numiko, a digital agency that design and build websites for purpose driven organisations, such as the Science Museum Group, Cancer Research UK, University of London and the Electoral Commission. Rob was blog editor at Smart Insights from 2015-2017. You can follow Rob on LinkedIn.
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