The mobile revolution in Africa

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The influx of mobile phone has enhanced ease of access across the world - communication is more easily facilitated as practically everybody is a phone call, email or tweet away. The virtual world is one of full of opportunities, which might not easily be accessible in real life. The penetration of mobile in Africa has been on the rise, largely from the use of feature phones. Now smartphones are becoming more predominant. In fact, it's predicted that mobile data traffic is expected to have a 20-fold increase by 2019.

The influx of mobile phone has enhanced ease of access across the world - communication is more easily facilitated as practically everybody is a phone call, email or tweet away. The virtual world is one of full of opportunities, which might not easily be accessible in real life. The penetration of mobile in Africa has been on the rise, largely from the use of feature phones. Now smartphones are becoming more predominant. In fact, it's predicted that mobile data traffic is expected to have a 20-fold increase by 2019.

The 50% increase in mobile use across business and leisure travellers makes businesses like Jovago.com accessible across mobile platforms and browsers, easing the process of purchase for customers across continents.

Top five mobile devices

Apparently, Steve Jobs' legacy lives on as the iPhone is the favourite device of Jovago's customers across the Africa! It registered interesting enough the most users. The trusty Blackberry Keyboard series are also handy devices for mobile users, the sleek interface of the Z10 also makes it one of the most-used Blackberry devices! The Samsung Galaxy series also seem to be a hit.

Top five mobile browsers

Since most affordable mobile devices run the android operating system, the Chrome is the most used mobile browser in Jovago.com as 55% of our mobile users have it as their default browser! A close second is the Apple's Safari, which has a steady stream of users. Opera Mini comes in 3rd place. Internet Explorer and the Blackberry browsers are the least used browsers!

Mobile phone penetration in Africa

Within four years, smartphones have greatly flooded the markets! In 2011, only 3% of the 500 million mobile phones in circulation were smartphones. Presently, this is expected to more than triple this year! It is predicted that in 2018, the percentage of smartphones used in Africa would reach 33%, which would be accompanied with a decline in the use of feature phones.

Mobile payments in Africa

As expected, many Africans find it difficult to entrust their credit card details to online businesses. More and more, mobile payments are being used in place of the stress of queuing up at a bank to make payments. Kenya, with 68% mobile-payment rate, welcomes this phenomenon more than the other states displayed!

Most expensive booking

Though the tendency to spend less kicks in when we shop with mobile devices, the most expensive hotel booking made on a mobile device in Africa through Jovago.com was made in Mombasa, Kenya, for US $4500 on New Year's Eve. Go Kenya!

About Jovago

Jovago.com is an online hotel booking service with offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Dakar (Senegal) founded by Africa Internet Group and has MTN and Millicom as investors.

Jovago.com, Africa's No.1 booking portal, facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 20,000 local hotel listings across Africa and over 200,000 hotels around the world.

About Africa Internet Group

Africa Internet Group, the leading internet platform in Africa, promotes sustainable online growth that benefits both businesses and consumers. Firmly rooted in Africa's start-up ecosystem, the group provides easy-to-use services and smart solutions across the African internet sector. AIG is invested in furthering regional entrepreneurship and innovation through a passion for Africa, its culture and its people. AIG is the parent group of ten successful and fast-growing companies in more than 30 African countries. Its network of companies includes Carmudi, Easy Taxi, Everjobs, hellofood, Jovago, Jumia, Kaymu, Lamudi, Vendito and Zando.

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