BY NDUMBE BELL GASTON IN DOUALA
One of Cameroon’s e-and m-commerce providers JUMIA Cameroon, has unleashed statistics based on a study carried out in 15 African countries by Jumia, GSM mobile report 2017, and We Are Social, that out of 65% of their Cameroonian clients, 41% of these do trade through their mobile phones or m-commerce while that done in Africa generally stands at 47%.
The declaration was made by the Country Manager of Cameroon Roland Deheere, during a press conference at Hotel Prince de Galles Douala last Wednesday April 20 as a prelude to an exposition to be started on April 24.
Mobile phone innovations are rapidly transforming daily habits says Jumia officials. With Cameroon’s population now estimated at closely 24 millions, about 5 millions use the internet. This is, according to the study, an internet penetration of 21% for Cameroon relative to that in Africa at 18%. The trend is at a surge. Reported to have had 19.46 million subscribers at the end of 2016, the percentage increase is calculated to be 80% equal to that of Africa which stands at 80%. This confirms that “the preference to surf or navigate the internet is now inclined to mobile phones as many more Cameroonians final it more convenient.”
According to Jumia Cameroon, most of these penetrations found through smartphones or tablets originate from preferred brands like those of MTN, NOKIA, Infinix, Samsung and Tecno in that order of preference. The choices are based on the rapid technological innovations, the quality of the materials used and the drop in prices due to competition.
Jumia’s m-consumers through tablets or smartphones use their websites to conduct trade whether as buyers or sellers. According to enabling statistics 58% use this channel as against 35% who use the traditional terminals or computers in Cameroon.
The public relations services, in their white paper and press statements stated that other statistics that can only be accessible in their website are intended to educate and sensitise the public about the trends. They, especially, targeted companies, associations, other economic operators and also individuals so that together, all stakeholders could advance the socio-economic landscape of the nation. Cameroon’s utilisation rate of 25% positions us in the 17th place in Africa while Nigeria is second and Côte d’Ivoire utilisation is 32%.