Brainstorming the West African App Scene @ Connecting West Africa 2014

Brainstorming the West African App Scene

Jean-Marie PREIRAjmpreira@gmail.com

Christelle SCHARFFscharffc@gmail.com

June 2014

Agenda

1.Introduction2.Population needs3.What works? 4.Difficulties and obstacles 5.What could work better?

1. Introduction

Sharing ideas and experiences The case of the SenMobile startup What works? The most successful and

profitable apps How can operators partner with

developers to drive the app industry?

About

Mission: Building capacity & organize the mobile community

Bootcamps, courses, competitions, conferences, faculty & professional training, mentoring, pilots…

> 450 developers trained ~ 10 apps in the stores after mentoring Several winners of international competitions Participants became entrepreneurs and work in mobile

startups & compagnies

News

Entertainment

Accounting

Communicate

2. Population Needs

Mobile phones

Financial transactions

Games, videos…

News, information…

Voice

SMS, USSD

SMS, Data

Data

2G

3G

3. What Works?

App downloads

Mobile money

SMS games

Mobile Money

Real need

Budget for

marketing and

communication

necessary

Most Downloaded Apps from Google Play in Senegal(Source: Distimo Holding B.V. June 9th, 2014)

Viber

Skype

Facebook

33, 37, 55

55 - 200

10,000 to 50,000 downloads worldwide

RANKING

4. Difficulties and Obstacles

Ecosystem Business models

Content Population behavior

Ecosystem / Business Model Visibility of the

services Difficulty to establish

win-win partnerships Revenue sharing

[70%-30%(Op) VS 40%-60%(Op)]

Service monetization Training not adapted Lack of funding

Financial and investment institutions

Regulator

Human resources

Mobile service providers

Companies

Startups

Operators

Service platforms

Customers

Content in Senegal

News TV Series

Radio programs Sport

Content can create value Need of diverse and quality local content

Population Behavior

Is M4D really the solution?

SenMobile’s Experience senmobile.com

Live scores of local soccer games (sept. to feb. only) via web site, SMS service and apps for Nokia, Android, BlackBerry and Windows phones

More than 2000 games covered since 2011

SenMobile’s Experience with NawetaanLive.com

NawetaanLive.com: Content and Services

NawetaanLive.com’s Timeline September 2011 - LAUNCH Summer 2012 - Initial contacts with operators for partnership to

scale September 2012 - Partnership with a radio; no finalized

partnership with sport organizations April 2013 – No finalized partnerships with news web sites April 2013 to September 2013 - Follow-up contacts with

operators January 2014 - Change of revenue sharing with operators February 2014 - THE END AFTER 3 SEASONS

5. What Could Work Better?

More adapted training offered at the college level More support and mentoring of companies in the production of local

content More funding More support and mentoring in the phases of development and

promotion of innovative services Win-win business model focusing on mobile service providers Opening of mobile payment API and exploration of other billing methods Development of partnership between content providers and aggregators

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Jean-Marie PREIRAjmpreira@gmail.com

Christelle SCHARFFscharffc@gmail.com